I think petting zoos can be great. I’ve taken my kids to many and think they’re a great way for people to see and interact with animals they would not normally encounter. However, there’s always some risk, and petting zoos range from exceptionally well run to horrible. It seems like there’s been steady improvement over… Continue Reading
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Immunocompromised People and Their Pets
Posted in Birds, Cats, Dogs, Other animals, Pocket pets, ReptilesThis month’s edition of the Internal Medicine Journal contains an article entitled High rates of potentially infectious exposures between immunocompromised patients and their companion animals: an unmet need for education (Gurry et al. 2017). The study is fairly superficial and there’s nothing particularly surprising in the paper, with results similar to what has been reported in… Continue Reading
2016 Rabies Compendium
Posted in Cats, Dogs, Horses, Other animals, Rabies, VaccinationThe 2016 Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control has been released by the US’s National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV). This version has updates in a few different areas, such as some changes to recommendations for dogs, cats and ferrets that have potentially been exposed to rabies. It can be downloaded directly here or be found… Continue Reading
Rabies from a mongoose bite
Posted in Other animals, Rabies, VaccinationEvery few days, it seems, I get an email or call that goes something like “I was just bitten by [insert various mammals here]. Do I need to worry about rabies or do anything?” The answer’s pretty similar every time. While the relative risk posed by different animal species in different geographic regions varies, you… Continue Reading
All you wanted to know about Baylisascaris…the raccoon roundworm
Posted in Other animals, ParasitesThe US Geological Service isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when I think about publishers of zoonotic disease information (but what do I know?). If you’re looking for some holiday reading, the USGS has published a comprehensive overview of Baylisascaris larva migrans, a serious disease caused by Baylisascaris procyonis, the raccoon roundworm. This parasite… Continue Reading
Agritourism Infection Prevention
Posted in Other animalsAgritourism is becoming a big industry. As our society gets more urbanized, there’s increasing interest in visiting farms and similar environments. Things like farm visits and petting zoos can be great, especially for kids. They’re also sometimes associated with infectious diseases, most often in kids. Some agritourism events are well run and take a lot of… Continue Reading
Why Do Zika and Other Mosquito-Borne Viruses Only Occur in Specific Areas?
Posted in Other animalsWhen I got into vet school, I didn’t imagine that I’d have to know much about mosquito biology. (I probably didn’t really imagine that when I graduated either, to tell the truth). However, as I focused on infectious diseases, it became apparent that understanding certain aspects of inner-workings of mosquitoes (and ticks, and various other… Continue Reading
Raccoon Roundworm Infection
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
Move Over mcr-1. You’re Old News.
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
Classroom Pets Going Home for the Holidays
Posted in Other animals, Pocket pets, ReptilesMy kids come home from school with lots of consent forms. Last week, one came home asking permission to enter Erin into the draw to see who gets to take home their Grade 3 class fish (Lord Bubbles). She didn’t win the draw, but it fit with a recent article in the Toronto Star entitled… Continue Reading
Mapping Zoonotic Disease Emergence Risk
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
Animals in Child Care Facilities: New Guidance
Posted in Birds, Cats, Dogs, Other animals, Pocket pets, ReptilesAnimals are not uncommonly found in daycares and other childcare settings. Sometimes, it’s good: animals can be entertaining, animal contact can have various benefits to children, and animals can be part of learning activities. Other times, it’s not: such as the presence of species at higher risk for shedding certain pathogens, poor management that increases… Continue Reading
Public Health Agency of Canada: Healthy Pets, Healthy People
Posted in Other animals, Pocket pets, ReptilesThe Public Health Agency of Canada, along with various partners (including the Worms&Germs team), has developed a set of informational postcards and a poster targeting pet owners and prospective pet owners. They emphasize five critical steps for safe pet ownership and provide a visual reminder using infographic icons: WASH (your hands) DISINFECT (contaminated surfaces and… Continue Reading
Vaccine Apathy
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
Hermit Crab Zoonoses
Posted in Other animalsIt seems like s a bit of an oddball question, but it’s come up a couple times in the past few weeks: Are there any human health risks posed by hermit crabs? My standard line is that there is no such thing as a zero-risk animal. That’s not an anti-pet sentiment, it’s just life. The… Continue Reading
Cache Valley Virus in Dogs (and People)
Posted in Dogs, Other animalsCache Valley Virus (CVV) has been in the news around here lately. This mosquito-borne virus can be found in various parts of North America, particularly in the southeastern US. It’s been present in Ontario for a while, but has hit the news recently because of a recent outbreak in sheep flocks in the province. CVV infection… Continue Reading
Zoonoses crossword
Posted in Birds, Cats, Dogs, Miscellaneous, Other animalsIf you’re looking to test your zoonotic disease skills (or to procrastinate….which was basically what I was doing while making this up), here’s a little crossword puzzle. (You can click on the highlighted text for a downloadable version). The answer key will be posted next week.. … Continue Reading
Zika virus and animals
Posted in Other animalsI’ve been getting a lot of questions about Zika virus and animals. It’s great to see that people are thinking more broadly about infectious diseases (but it isn’t doing much for my productivity this week). To recap, Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus related to West Nile virus and dengue virus. Most people that are… Continue Reading
Rabies in a calf: Ontario
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
Rabies in a chicken
Posted in Other animals, RabiesThere are very few absolutes with infectious diseases. The minute we think we are sure about something, a new angle becomes apparent. Regarding rabies, we always say that its host range is mammals, but basically only mammals. Maybe not. There have been occasional (poorly corroborated) reports about rabies in birds, but when I first read headlines about this… Continue Reading
Get Smart About Antibiotics Week
Posted in Cats, Dogs, Horses, Miscellaneous, Other animalsSince their discovery in the mid-1900s (which really wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things), antibiotics have revolutionized human medicine, veterinary medicine and even food production. They save lives and prevent illness, helping to make both people and animals healthier, happier and more efficient at what they do. But if we want… Continue Reading
Antibiotic use in an antimicrobial-resistant world
Posted in Cats, Dogs, Horses, Other animalsPrudent antibiotic use. Antimicrobial stewardship. Whatever you want to call it, it’s an important subject. I spend a lot of time working in this area, and figuring out how to effect real change is the challenge. That means getting to prescribers. If I’m at a conference and have a talk titled “Antimicrobial stewardship” (or something… Continue Reading
New Ontario rabies website
Posted in Cats, Dogs, Horses, Other animals, Rabies, VaccinationThe Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has launched its new (and long-awaited) rabies website. The site includes a section for the public which is an ideal resource for clients, and a section for veterinarians with detailed information about reporting, risk assessment, sample submission and testing, and post-exposure management (for companion animals and… Continue Reading
Bovine leukemia virus and breast cancer
Posted in Other animals, Other diseasesA new study from the University of California, Berkeley, has shown a potential link between bovine leukemia virus (BLV) and breast cancer in women (Buehring et al. 2015). The short version is the study analyzed breast tissue from 239 women, and found evidence of BLV exposure in 59% of the samples from women with breast… Continue Reading