By Scott Weese on Posted in Horses,Other diseasesArboviruses (ARthropod-BOrne viruses) are viruses that are spread by insects, often mosquitoes. As I’ve written about recently, mosquito biology and differences in reservoir species mean that mosquito-borne viruses can have quite different patterns of distribution and spread. As is common, the occurrence of West Nile virus infection in horses tends to ramp up in late… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other diseasesHere is the answer key for Crossword #2 that was posted last week. To download a pdf version of the answer key, click here.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Miscellaneous,Other diseasesBack by popular demand, here’s another zoonoses crossword puzzle. This one’s a bit tougher than the last one. To download a pdf version of the crossword, click here. Answers will be posted next week.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,ParasitesThe August edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases has an interesting case report of Baylisascaris procyonis infection in a California man (Langelier et al. 2016). Baylisascaris procyonis, commonly known as the raccoon roundworm, is a parasite that is very commonly found in the intestinal tracts of raccoons. Massive numbers of parasite eggs can be found in… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Horses,Other diseases,Vaccination‘Tis the season for mosquitoes, so ‘tis the season for some nasty vector-borne diseases. Few are worse that Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), a viral infection that causes typically fatal disease in horses, and less commonly other species, including people. Cases tend to start mid-summer and peak late summer to fall, depending on the mosquito dynamics… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,Other diseasesRecent identification of mcr-1, a gene that makes bacteria resistant to colistin (an antibiotic of last resort) raised a lot of concern. Now, there’s another one to be worried about, as a related gene, mcr-2 has been identified (Xavier et al, Eurosurveillance, July 2016). In this study, 105 colistin-resistant E. coli from calves and piglets… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Parasites,RabiesA few years ago, we launched WormsAndGermsMap to help track certain emerging and endemic diseases. Data are entered by participating veterinary clinics, surveillance programs and the WormsAndGerms team. While we certainly can’t capture every case, we do collect some interesting information about the presence of certain diseases. Using the “Report Filter” bar on the left, you can… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesWhen raccoon rabies re-emerged in Ontario last fall, one of the big questions was “where did it come from?” It had been eradicated from the province and control measures were in place at the borders to reduce the risk of re-introduction. It was assumed that a rabid raccoon hitched a ride across the border from… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Birds,Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animals,Other diseases,Pocket pets,ReptilesPredicting the future is a dodgy proposition at the best of times. It’s particularly hard with infectious diseases, which tend not to behave as expected. Yet, it’s important to plan surveillance, education and response. One approach is to assess where certain types of problems are more likely to develop. That can help direct resources (time,… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationI’ve written a lot about the issues of dog importation and the diseases that can sometimes “come along for the ride”. However, high risk movement doesn’t need to be international. Any movement from a high risk area can be a concern. A recent article in Canadian Communicable Disease Report (Curry et al. 2016) addresses the issue of… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Reptiles,SalmonellaThe CDC has updated information on the ongoing (if not ever-present) salmonellosis outbreaks linked to pet turtles. At last count, there were 133 illnesses (although it’s likely that this represents a fraction of the people that actually got sick), with 38 of those requiring hospitalization. Forty-one percent (41%) were kids under the age of five, reflecting… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Reptiles,SalmonellaIn what shouldn’t come as a surprise, I guess, another pet turtle-associated multistate outbreak of Salmonella infection in people has been identified in the US. Despite the fact that the sale of small (<4 inch shell length) turtles has been banned in the US for decades, the law is widely ignored, and kids get sick… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in RabiesRaccoon rabies continues to be a concern in the Hamilton, Ontario area. After being eradicated in Ontario for years over a decade, raccoon rabies snuck back into the province late last year. Intensive surveillance and baiting efforts by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) continue. Almost half a million oral rabies vaccine baits… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,RabiesA Florida couple is suing their neighbour in an attempt to get the neighbour’s dog euthanized for rabies testing. The dog attacked the couple’s beagle, and the wife was bitten while intervening (as was her sister). Because there was a bite, it’s important to consider the potential for rabies exposure and take appropriate actions. But… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,SalmonellaAccording to an alert from the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia: The BC Centre for Disease Control is collaborating with BC health authorities, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Health Canada to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella infections in British Columbia likely related to raw pet food. Raw pet food is food served… Continue Reading
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 RabiesThe latest edition of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports describes a case of rabies in a Missouri man. Rabies is rare in people in the US, but it remains an ever-present risk because the virus circulates in various wildlife species. (This case seems to have been from 2014, but they missed some proofreading since… 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 Dogs,ParasitesAnother emerging disease we’ve been paying attention to lately is canine lungworm. Lungworm is a generic name for infection caused by one of a few different parasites that live in the respiratory tract. A variety of different lungworms can cause disease in different species, and there tends to be a lot of regional variation. Recently,… 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 Scott Weese on Posted in Birds,SalmonellaA reasonable question, expanding on the recent discussion about urban chickens and disease risks, is: why don’t we know how often people get sick from urban chickens? To answer the question, we need to think about how diseases are diagnosed and reported. Let’s say I decide to raise some chickens in my backyard. (Very hypothetical since… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Birds,SalmonellaUrban chickens continue to be in the news, with debate about instituting (or enforcing) bylaws banning or restricting the raising of chickens in backyards running next to articles on how to raise your own backyard flock. People have various concerns, including: Noise Attracting wildlife, including predators such as coyotes Smell Infectious diseases Animal welfare But,… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Horses,Rabies,VaccinationA horse in South Carolina was recently diagnosed with rabies. While rabies is common in some animal species in some regions, it’s a pretty rare disease in horses, so it’s a noteworthy event. This case has a couple of important takeaway messages. Rabies can be sneaky. Rabies (especially in horses and cattle) isn’t always obvious… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationIn a rather unusual development, a calf in Ellice Ward, Ontario has been diagnosed with rabies. It’s the first case of rabies in any animal species in Perth County since 2012, and looking at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency surveillance records, it’s the first rabid bovine in Ontario since 2011. Rabies has been in the… Continue Reading
