Rat bite fever (RBF) is an uncommon disease in people, but one that I nonetheless spend a lot of time talking about with owners, veterinarians, and physicians (and sometimes lawyers). It’s a bacterial infection spread by (you guessed it) rats. The causative agent of RBF is an obscure bacterium called Streptobacillus moniliformis, which lives
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.
Pet treat recall: Whole dried fish
While it feels like “all COVID all the time,” other infectious disease issues still carry on beyond the current pandemic. They’re not as big, but they’re still relevant (and a break from writing about COVID-19 is nice).
The FDA has announced a voluntary recall of whole capelin fish treats from IcelandicPlus LLC, because
COVID-19: Testing animals
A few diagnostic labs in North America are now offering testing in animals for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Testing capacity is great to have and I’m glad some labs have geared up tests. BUT routine testing of pets, healthy or sick, isn’t something we’re recommending, for a few key reasons.
Testing as part
Novel coronavirus and wildlife markets
While the whole story hasn’t been sorted out, it seems pretty clear that one or more animal species at the Wuhan Seafood Market (which sold much more than just aquatic animals and their products) was the source of the novel coronavirus. Just like SARS.
Once again, this has raised concerns about markets where diverse live
A microbiome rant
I saw a TV commercial yesterday talking about a skin product and how it “protects your microbiome.” Microbiome is a big buzzword now, but do what do we really know?
A lot, and almost nothing.
The microbiome is the vast population of microorganisms (mainly bacteria) that live in a site like the intestinal tract, respiratory
One Health, antifungal resistance and the overlooked environment
“One Health” is getting a lot of talk (but still not enough action) these days. It deals with the intersection of human health, animal health and the environment. Unfortunately, all of these components don’t get treated equally, and the environment often gets ignored. There are a variety of reasons for that, which I won’t get
Mycobacterium bovis from a cat
As an Associate Editor for CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, I get an early look at some interesting articles (and have to read things that I wouldn’t necessarily get around to otherwise). The December edition just came out, and it had a variety of interesting articles. I’ll try to get to a few over the
Canine Influenza recap: Ontario outbreak
While it was pretty well documented on the Worms & Germs Blog as it was underway, the full story regarding Ontario’s 2018 canine influenza outbreak(s) has now been published in the latest edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases. You can use the link above to access the full report, but here are some highlights.
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Mysterious Norwegian dog illness
Media reports have described a number of Norwegian dogs with unknown intestinal disease, characterized by vomiting and diarrhea. Cases were first reported in Oslo, with subsequent reports in other towns – whether this indicates spread of disease or spread of awareness isn’t clear. Oslo could be the epicentre of the disease, but it could