By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsChicago has a city bylaw banning pet stores from sourcing dogs from puppy mills (i.e. selling commercially-bred pets). So, what’s an enterprise puppy mill owner to do? Apparently they start a rescue as a way to get their dogs sold instead. No, they didn’t see the light and decide to get out of the puppy… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsA recent report from the Netherlands in Emerging Infectious Diseases (van Dijk et al 2018) describes a new twist on raw feeding concerns, Brucella suis infection. Here’s the short version of the story: A dog in the Netherlands developed fever, ascites (fluid free in the abdomen) and inflammation of the testicles. After failing to respond… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe latest IDEXX Laboratories maps and case list are below. Canine flu continues to cause problems in some parts of the US, and is spreading in some states. California and Nevada have had active flu for a few months, but it may be abating. New clusters are popping up in other areas, most notably in… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,ParasitesIf you’d asked me a few years ago, I wouldn’t have said that’s a question I’d expect to get (daily). However, we’re in a different world tick-wise now, so it’s a common and understandable question, particularly because of our tick tracking efforts. The answer is no/possibly/maybe later. How’s that for a straight answer? We are… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,HorsesAs part of our recently launched PetsAndTick.com information and tick-tracker website, we are offering a pilot tick identification program. We will be offering identification of ticks that are removed from animals (non-human animals, to be specific). The program will complement our tick-tracking efforts and help gather more information about expanding tick ranges and incursions of… Continue Reading
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 – that means looking for animals (including us). I assume there will be lots of… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’ve been holding off saying “it’s gone” but based on all the information we have at the moment, there’s no evidence of ongoing canine flu activity in Canada, at least for now. No new cases have been identified in a few weeks and we are now beyond the 28-day recommended quarantine period for all of… 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 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 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 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
