This 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
Seoul Virus in Ontario
It’s not particularly surprising, I guess, but a few cases of Seoul virus infection have been identified in Ontario residents who breed or have contact with rats. Fortunately, like most infections with this type of hantavirus, disease was mild. Equally not surprising is that infected rats have been found in Ontario rat-breeding facilities. The
Seoul Virus in Pet Rats
Another day, another new zoonotic disease concern.
Well, it’s not really that bad, but the list of new (or at least newly identified) zoonotic disease issues continues to expand at an impressive rate.
One of the latest concerns is a cluster of Seoul virus infections linked to rats. At last report, 8 infections with Seoul
Biohazardous hedgehogs…multistate salmonellosis outbreak
When I talk about hospital visitation animals, I often use hedgehogs as an example of a novelty critter that we want to keep out of high risk situations. They’re interesting, but is there any advantage f seeing a hedgehog vs interacting with a properly trained visitation dog? Probably not. When you add in the greater
Classroom Pets Going Home for the Holidays
My 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
Mapping Zoonotic Disease Emergence Risk
Predicting 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,
Animals in Child Care Facilities: New Guidance
Animals 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
Public Health Agency of Canada: Healthy Pets, Healthy People
The 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
PetSmart employee worried about rabies after rat bite
As reported on WKTR NewsChannel 3 in Virginia:
“An employee at PetSmart [in Williamburg, Virginia] says she was bitten by a rat on display and is now worried she has rabies. She feels the store isn’t doing enough to help her find out if she has it.
Victoria Verbeeck says she was working at the
Hazardous guinea pigs?
All animals pose some risk of infection to people, to one degree or another, but the risk varies a lot between animal species. I guess I’ve always considered guinea pigs to be relatively benig, with a few zoonotic disease concerns but with bites probably being the biggest risk.
I still think that’s true, but a