Last spring, we posted about a report of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in a child in Quebec from 2018. This very serious parasitic infection is caused by the intermediate stage of the fox tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis (EM), which despite its common name is often also found in coyotes (including right here in southern Ontario
More on SARS-CoV-2 Testing in Animals
As reports of animals testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 continue to trickle in (as expected), it’s clear that some domestic animal species are susceptible (at least to some degree) to this virus. A recent article in National Geographic about “Buddy,” the first dog in the US to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 back in May, has flooded
More on COVID-19 Detection Dogs
A colleague asked me about scent detection dogs the other day. My response was that I hadn’t heard much after all the initial buzz, which might suggest things weren’t going well. However, as opposed to the horrible pre-print about COVID-19-sniffing dogs I wrote about previously, a paper in BMC Infectious Diseases (Jendry et
A Plague of Men, and Dogs, and Marmots
Taking a break from the latest pandemic microbe, there have been a couple of recent items about another very old pandemic bug that’s never really completely gone away – Yersina pestis, known commonly as plague, and the cause of the Black Death of the mid 1300s, aka the deadliest pandemic recorded in human history.
COVID-19 and Animals: Odds and Ends (again)
I’ve been slow posting in the past few days, so here are a few quick recaps from the animal/COVID-19 world.
Higher quality debunking of crappy dog-SARS-CoV-2 paper
Back in April, a paper (Xia 2020) was released that suggested dogs could be the source of SARS-CoV-2. Most of us considered it crap at the
Canadian Canine Importation Restrictions: Ukraine
Following the recent debacle with a large group of imported dogs from Ukraine in early June, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has cancelled import permits for all commercial puppies under 8 months of age from Ukraine. It will not issue any new permits “until the CFIA is satisfied that import conditions and
Another Canine Importation Debacle, and Another Canine Importation Rant
A horrific situation with a group of imported dogs from the Ukraine has once again focused attention on issues regarding canine importation. A Ukrainian Airlines plane arrived in Toronto last Saturday with over 500 French bulldog puppies on board, many of which were dead or dying upon arrival. At least 38 died. The incident
Canine Importation Restrictions on the Horizon in the US?
A non-COVID post for a change.
Well, not completely, I guess. COVID is an example of what can happen when a new disease emerges and spreads. There are lots of new diseases lurking out there, mainly in wildlife. Some threaten humans. Some threaten animals. Some do both. Anytime we move ourselves into new environments or
E. coli O157 Outbreak From Raw Pet Food: Canada
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has announced an outbreak of E. coli O157 infections in people linked to Carnivora brand raw pet food, and Health Canada has issued a recall of a number of Carnivora products due to potential contamination with E. coli O157. Illnesses have been reported in four individuals in
COVID-19 Scent-Detection Dogs
I’ve had countless questions about the potential for scent detection dogs to be useful for COVID-19 surveillance. It’s an interesting idea, but it’s dependent on COVID-19-infected people producing some volatile compound detectable by the dogs than uninfected people do not. (The virus itself is not likely to have a detectable odour.)
A recent pre-print paper