By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationSuccess can breed apathy. Apathy can lead to bad decisions. That’s a common problem with vaccinations. People lose sight of why we vaccinate. Growing up during a time when many major pathogens have been controlled by vaccines, it’s easy to forget about how bad those diseases are. Whether it’s resurgence in measles in people because… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,DogsPerhaps unsurprisingly, canine H3N2 influenza has been found in a group of cats in the US. Canine H3N2 influenza is the strain that emerged in the US last year. It was likely imported (in a dog) from South Korea, and then spread through many parts of the country. As with H3N8 canine flu, we’ve been… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,ParasitesHeadline writers have had a lot of fun over the past few years writing about toxoplasmosis and potential associations with neurological and behavioural disorders in people. Cats are the main natural host of Toxoplasma gondii, so “crazy cat lady” and other predictable headlines have ensued. But, what is the real risk? The answer is still… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Birds,Cats,Dogs,Miscellaneous,Other animalsIf you’re looking to test your zoonotic disease skills (or to procrastinate….which was basically what I was doing while making this up), here’s a little crossword puzzle. (You can click on the highlighted text for a downloadable version). The answer key will be posted next week.. … Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,RabiesIt seems to be a bit of a slow month for zoonoses. Finally getting some cold weather here in Ontario certainly helps keep many bugs at bay (and people indoors). Nonetheless, rabies continues to keep us hopping. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is continuing with its surveillance efforts around the cluster of… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationThe incursion of raccoon rabies in the Hamilton ON area reached a total of 10 confirmed cases as of last week. A map of the current MNRF control zone is available on the OMAFRA website. This is the area where the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) has spread oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Other diseasesPublic Health England has launched an investigation following identification of leptospirosis in an animal shelter volunteer. Leptospirosis is caused by the bacterium Leptospira, a bug that can be found in a variety of animal species. It’s shed in urine and loves to survive in cool, moist environments, so people and domestic animals are often exposed… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,DogsI’ve had a lot of emails about some news reports describing a program at Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton (Ontario) that allows personal pets to visit. Zachary’s Paws for Healing is touted as the first of its kind in Canada (which is far from true, but perhaps it’s the most formal). Animals in healthcare facilities are… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Miscellaneous,Other animalsSince their discovery in the mid-1900s (which really wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things), antibiotics have revolutionized human medicine, veterinary medicine and even food production. They save lives and prevent illness, helping to make both people and animals healthier, happier and more efficient at what they do. But if we want… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,DogsAnytime you see a case report in the medical literature, you know it must be something rare or new. Otherwise, no one would publish the occurrence of a single case. That can skew people’s perceptions because weird things get more attention. So, it’s always hard to say what we should think about one-off reports of… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,HorsesKnowing your ticks is important. Certain ticks are able to transmit certain diseases, so knowing what to look for, on yourself and your animals, is useful. To help with that, Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health has released a quick-reference Tick ID Card. When folded in half, it’s about the size of a business card, so… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animalsPrudent antibiotic use. Antimicrobial stewardship. Whatever you want to call it, it’s an important subject. I spend a lot of time working in this area, and figuring out how to effect real change is the challenge. That means getting to prescribers. If I’m at a conference and have a talk titled “Antimicrobial stewardship” (or something… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationThe Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has launched its new (and long-awaited) rabies website. The site includes a section for the public which is an ideal resource for clients, and a section for veterinarians with detailed information about reporting, risk assessment, sample submission and testing, and post-exposure management (for companion animals and… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,MRSA/MRSP,Other animalsI realize this is outside of the scope of most readers (so let me apologize in advance for some wasted electrons), but here’s a quick announcement of the 4th ASM/ESCMID Conference on methicillin-resistant staphylococci in animals; animals and human health implications. (Yes, the name’s a bit long and drawn out, and I probably take the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,DogsThe Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology has been good, recently, for a zoonotic disease article or two. The latest edition has a report of Pasteurella multocida infections of prosthetic joints (Lam et al. 2015). Pasteurella multocida is a bacterium that’s commonly found in the mouths of dogs and cats, and can cause… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsIn what would be an interesting but not completely surprising twist, there’s a report of H3N2 influenza infection in a cat from a New York city shelter. The report’s pretty limited in detail, and it’s not clear to me how solid the diagnosis is, but it would be interesting if true. It probably doesn’t represent… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,DogsI don’t usually write about recalls of raw pet foods because… well, finding Salmonella, E. coli or Listeria in raw meat is far from surprising (although certainly concerning). However, the recent recall of Stella & Chewy’s products because of Listeria contamination is noteworthy. Why? Because their food is treated with high pressure pasteurization (HPP). This… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Other diseasesI like to write about interesting papers that appear in the medical literature. A problem with that is that it’s often weird cases that get published. So, it’s important to keep things in perspective. Regardless, reports of rare things still provide some insight, as long as people don’t over-react (which, unfortunately, is often the case).… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,ToxoplasmosisThere’s been a lot of discussion about toxoplasmosis and mental health over the past few weeks in response to a paper in Schizophrenia Research (Torrey et al 2015). Some internet sources are having a great time writing “crazy cat lady” and similar headlines. But is there any substance to it? Yes, and no. The science… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsEvery year, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) commissions "consensus statements" on specific topics. They’re developed by an expert panel, put up for review by ACVIM members (board certified veterinary internal medicine specialists), and published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Hot off the (electronic) press is the 2015 ACVIM Consensus Statement… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsIf you’re a regular reader, you’ll note the recurring theme of "every animal (and person) is carrying multiple microbes that can harm you, given the right circumstances. Fortunately, the right circumstances don’t usually occur." There are situations in which those risks increase, and understanding cost-benefit is a key aspect of disease prevention. Sometimes pet factors… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsAs I mentioned a few days ago, eliminating the risk of rabies in animal shelters is pretty much impossible. Another shelter-associated rabies exposure situation highlights the problems. A cat at the Washington Area Humane Society was recently diagnosed with rabies, resulting in three people receiving post-exposure prophylaxis (i.e. rabies antibodies and a series of rabies… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsOver 50 cats have been euthanized in Delaware, US, after rabies was diagnosed in one 4-week-old kitten. The cats were mainly indoor cats owned by one person – a pretty classical case of cat hoarding. All were in very poor condition. There were vaccination records for 15 of them, but there was no way to… Continue Reading
