By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animalsAfter a particularly miserable spring here (to put it mildly), it’s finally warming up (and the snow’s almost gone). That’s the good news. The bad news is that ticks are also going to start coming out and looking for food. The food….animals (including us). I assume there will be lots of tick posts on this… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’ve been holding off saying ‘it’s gone’ but from all that information we have at the moment, there’s no evidence of any canine flu activity in Canada at the moment. No new cases have been identified in a few weeks and we are now beyond the 28d quarantine period for all of our known cases.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsNo news is good news… at least hopefully. The past week was quite encouraging. No new cases of canine influenza were identified in Ontario. A couple of “inconclusive” results were obtained from dogs in the Northumberland cluster that were previously positive. I approach these as essentially “weak positives,” because it means the test detected viral… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsLone-Star-tick-associated meat allergy is an interesting phenomenon in people that is getting a lot of attention, especially as these ticks (like others) are expanding their range. The condition itself is one of those odd-ball quirks of nature that you’d never expect. The basic story goes like this: galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal) is a carbohydrate that’s part of cell… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’m slowly catching up so here are last week’s data from IDEXX Laboratories on the canine flu situation in the US. The two main areas of concern remain California and Nevada. The number of new cases dropped quite a bit from the previous week. That’s encouraging, but it can be hard to interpret passive surveillance… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’ve been slow to provide an update, partly because I’ve been sick (not with canine flu) and partly because there’s fortunately less to report. Muskoka We are still testing but it’s pretty low yield. One challenge is the baseline upper respiratory disease activity in the area. There are various viruses and bacteria that cause flu-like… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWindsor-Essex: Things have been quiet there for a while and this seems to be a nice success story. The two flu clusters that were active in January were contained and nothing new has been seen. Muskoka: Good progress has been made. Few new cases have been identified over the past two weeks. One problematic aspect… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Birds,Cats,Dogs,Other animals,ReptilesQuick question: what species do you think accounts for the most human deaths in the US? A recent paper in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (Forrester et al, 2017. An update on fatalities due to venomous and nonvenomous animals in the United States, (2008-2015)) explored this topic, using a CDC database to study deaths that occurred… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,Reptiles,SalmonellaTaking a break from canine flu and going back to an old favorite… Salmonella and reptiles. CDC has released their final update on a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Agbeni infections associated with contact with pet turtles. Turtles are very well known as high risk animals for transmitting Salmonella. Even healthy turtles often carry Salmonella and… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’m lazy so I’ll use the blog to answer a question that I’m getting a few times a day. Today’s question: how to disinfect a veterinary clinic if there is a concern about canine influenza? The good news is that influenza viruses are pretty wimpy. They’re enveloped viruses, meaning they are covered by a fragile fatty… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsUnited States (data courtesy of IDEXX Laboratories) Canine flu continues to cause problems in the US, particularly the west coast. Northern California (471 cases) and Nevada (207 cases) are the hotbeds. As ever, since these data are from diagnostic laboratory submissions, they probably represent the minority of cases (since most dogs with respiratory tract disease… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsActive canine influenza cases are still known to be present in two regions in Ontario. Muskoka A small number of dogs from the initial cluster of cases in the Orillia/Bracebridge/Gravenhurst region are still shedding the virus, as expected given this virus can be shed by some dogs for a few weeks. The dogs that made… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationCanine influenza continues to cause problems in Ontario. The central Ontario (Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Orillia) clusters continue to be monitored, with new positives that were expected based on known contact with infected dogs. Whether these clusters have been contained (or are containable) remains to be seen. Testing and contact tracing continues. As mentioned previously, there was… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,SalmonellaI’m giving my brain a short break from canine flu, so here’s an interesting report about a multistate US outbreak of salmonellosis linked to… no, not turtles… no, not baby poultry… but guinea pigs. While guinea pigs have been associated with a few different zoonotic diseases, they’re a pretty benign pet species overall. Yet, our… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,SalmonellaI haven’t written much lately about recalls of raw pet food because of Salmonella contamination. In large part that’s because it’s essentially an expected event. There are very good reasons why we cook food – one is to kill things that can make us sick. We assume that raw meat intended for our consumption is… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe third cluster of canine flu in Ontario is a problem. While the first two, in the Windsor-Essex area, were relatively small and have been contained, the recent, ongoing central Ontario cluster is larger and more widespread. There are over 20 confirmed cases to date. However, it is very likely that the actual number is… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWhile we had hoped that control of the two recent clusters of H3N2 canine influenza in Windsor-Essex, Ontario, meant that the province was again free of that virus, another cluster of infections has been identified, this time in Orillia, Ontario. Investigation is ongoing so the number of infected dogs is currently unclear, but as always,… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe table below has the latest H3N2 canine influenza numbers from IDEXX Laboratories. Some of the highlights include: Numbers continue to increase. Northern California and Nevada are the hotbeds, with northern CA cases increasing to 343 and Nevada 151. As always, these are just the tested cases, and they presumably represent a small minority of… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in MRSA/MRSP,Other animalsBacteria are smarter than we give them credit for. Or maybe we’re not a bright as we think we are. Antimicrobial stewardship is sometimes (wrongly) assumed to simply be the practice of “using fewer antimicrobials,” but it’s more complex than that, because the issue is complex. At face value, overall reduction in antimicrobial use is… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Dogs,Other diseasesAs if another reason was needed, a recent study from Australia (Martinez-Anton et al. 2018 J Vet Internal Med) found a strong association between dogs that consume raw chicken meat and a serious neurological condition known as acute polyradiculoneuritis (APN). APN is comparable to Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) in humans. The main objective of the study… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWhile we have hopefully been able to contain our two recent H3N2 canine influenza clusters in Canada (more on that later), this virus continues to spread in some parts of the US, particularly Northern California and Nevada. Since the last update from IDEXX Laboratories on February 2nd, they have identified another 164 cases in the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,SalmonellaWhen we have discussions about the risks of feeding raw meat to dogs and cats, a frequent refrain is “where are the published reports of people getting sick?” While we know some illnesses occur, they tend not to get investigated to the level that they are published, which is problematic when trying to demonstrate the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationThe World Health Organization has issued new rabies vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis recommendations. Here are some of the highlights: Post-exposure prophylaxis People who have not been previously vaccinated against rabies should receive immunoglobulin (antibody) promptly, followed by a series of rabies vaccines. Immunoglobulin can be given after vaccination has started, if logistics require that; however, it… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Birds,Cats,Dogs,Other animals,ReptilesI’ve written (ok… ranted) about fake service and support animals for years. Beyond frustration with the self-centred and/or “look at me!” aspects, my main concern with the proliferation of fake service animals and questionable emotional support animals is the potential negative impacts on the “real” service and support animals, and the people who actually need… Continue Reading
