The warm weather is just about here, and that means the start of camping season. Lots of people love to spend time in the great outdoors during the summer, whether it’s at a summer cottage on the lake, trailer camping in a park with electricity and running water, or roughing it in a tent in
Rabies from a bat: tragic and preventable
A recent issue of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report described a case of rabies in a person from Minnesota. This person died of rabies in 2007. Approximately one month before he became ill, he held a bat in his hands and felt a ‘pin-prick’. He didn’t see a wound or blood and assumed
Horses and MRSA
Many people in the horse world have heard the hype about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in horses. MRSA can cause infection in horses, just like it can in people, dogs, cats and many other animals. It’s usually what we call an “opportunistic” pathogen, meaning it usually takes advantage of a person or an animal that
Rabies vaccination…an Olympic event
In Beijing, 700 000 dogs have recently been vaccinated against rabies in order to combat the growing rabies epidemic there, and reduce the risks to people attending the 2008 Olympic games.
Unfortunately, rabies is common in China, with the number of cases increasing dramatically over the last decade. In 1996, there were 163 humans deaths
HIV/AIDS and dogs
Here are a couple questions that I get periodically…
My dog licked someone with HIV/AIDS, and they had an open sore. Can my dog get HIV?
Can a dog that bites someone with HIV get infected?
If a dog bites someone with HIV then bites someone else right after, can it spread the virus?
The
Cats and avian influenza
The picture on the right is a Picasso painting entitled "Cat catching a bird". I often use this picture in presentations and ask "What if that bird was infected with avian flu?"
Avian flu is a tremendous concern at the moment. While it is not (currently) easily transmitted between people, bird-to-human infections have been reported
Hazardous hedgehogs
While most people that want a pet stick to the tried-and-true species, there are a huge number of different animals available. Some make good pets, some are relatively harmless but not suitable for most households and some are potentially dangerous. Hedgehogs probably fit into the latter 2 categories.
No…hedgehogs aren’t sneaking out of their cages
My dog has MRSA… what do I do?
This is a question that I get on a regular basis. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an antibiotic resistant bacterium that is a major cause of disease in people and is also a cause of disease in various animals species, including dogs and cats. It can cause a wide range of infections, from mild skin
Pet turtles and Salmonella…When will we learn?
A report in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s journal MMWR described a multistate outbreak of human salmonellosis caused by contact with pet turtles. Officials investigated 103 cases of disease cause by a specific type of the Salmonella bacterium. Contact with turtles was identified as an important risk factor for disease. Sixty-three
Horse visits hospital
Recently, a story about a man who brought a horse into a hospital to visit his father was widely reported. The horse apparently made it to the man’s room, which included a trip in an elevator. The son, who appeared intoxicated, was eventually asked to leave (and take the horse with him). Said a