In 2021, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (NDMNRF) contacted the University of Guelph’s Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses (CPHAZ) about concerns pertaining to the use of the antiviral drug acyclovir in raccoons, specifically for “treatment” of distemper. While only used by a distinct minority of raccoon rehabilitators (maybe
Omicron and Animals
It’s been a pretty chaotic week in the zoonotic SARS-CoV-2 world, with a lot of attention being paid to hamsters in Hong Kong and deer in Canada.
However, one issue that’s gotten less attention is the need to keep up with this virus as it changes, through serial waves and new variants, and to
The Great Escape: Hamster Style
I doubt it will involve tunnelling under the wall and fake travel documents, but the 2022 Great Hamster Escape is apparently underway in Hong Kong. It’s not surprising, following the recent heavy-handed over-reaction to finding SARS-CoV-2 in a small number of hamsters, and the attempted blame-shifting (COVID-19? No, we don’t have any of that
SARS-CoV-2 in Pet Hamsters (and a Massive Over-Reaction)
As someone who works in zoonotic diseases and One Health, I deal with the ever-present issue of trying to raise awareness while preventing people from over-reacting, panicking or doing something stupid. It can be tough, since we want people to realize that animal-to-human transmission of infections is an important issue, but don’t want them huddling
Update: COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 7: Cattle
As I keep going through these updates, some are pretty easy since we’ve learned little since I originally wrote them last year. For cattle, that’s largely because the initial take home message was “they’re not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, so mooove on.”
That’s not a completely accurate assessment since “susceptible” isn’t really yes/no distinction in
Update: COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 6: Marine Mammals
Here’s one that’s pretty easy to update because we don’t know much more than when I posted the original review. That’s partly because it’s not exactly easy to get data on exposure and infection of marine mammals with SARS-CoV-2. I assume no one’s going to do an experimental study on such animals, and we
Zoonotic Infection From A Household Aquarium
Zoonotic diseases from pet fish are very rare, but rare doesn’t mean never. That can make messaging around the disease risks from pet fish challenging, because there’s a need to balance costs vs benefits, and being proactive vs paranoid.
I have a saltwater fish aquarium, and I don’t stay up at night worrying that it’s
More About SARS-CoV-2 in Deer
I’ve been a laggard with blog posts lately. It’s a bit crazy and it’s been easier to get things out quickly via Twitter (@weese_scott). However, one interesting topic I wanted to get back to is SARS-CoV-2 in deer. It’s caused a big stink in some areas and, like a lot of things involving
Update: COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 4: Mustelids (Mink and Ferrets)
Mink are not a species most people think about. When they do, they typically think of mink coats or fur farming protests. While the mink industry has been on the decline in most regions for many years, there is still a massive number of mink being farmed for fur internationally. Some of these farms are
Update: COVID-19 in Animals Review Part 3: Pigs
What we know about SARS-CoV-2 in pigs hasn’t changed a lot since the first version of this post. It’s still a fairly “good news” situation, but one that could also use some more investigation.
Are pigs susceptible to SARS-CoV-2?
Kind of, but not really. There are somewhat conflicting experimental data, but the debate is