The backyard poultry debate continues in many areas. It raised is head again in Guelph recently, with more city government debate about how far you have to keep your backyard chickens from your neighbours. There are a number of issues to consider, like potential for spread of zoonotic bacteria (e.g. Salmonella), avian flu, noise,
The Indoor/Outdoor Cat Debate
The latest edition of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery contains an American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) position statement entitled “Impact of lifestyle choice on the companion cat: indoor vs outdoor”. (The document is actually an update of the previous 2007 position statement “Confinement of Owned Indoor Cats“.) It’s
Tiny Turtles, Big Problems
The CDC has updated information on the ongoing (if not ever-present) salmonellosis outbreaks linked to pet turtles. At last count, there were 133 illnesses (although it’s likely that this represents a fraction of the people that actually got sick), with 38 of those requiring hospitalization. Forty-one percent (41%) were kids under the age of
More Turtle-Associated Salmonellosis
In what shouldn’t come as a surprise, I guess, another pet turtle-associated multistate outbreak of Salmonella infection in people has been identified in the US. Despite the fact that the sale of small (<4 inch shell length) turtles has been banned in the US for decades, the law is widely ignored, and kids get
Raw Pet Food and Human Salmonellosis Outbreak
According to an alert from the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia:
The BC Centre for Disease Control is collaborating with BC health authorities, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Health Canada to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella infections in British Columbia likely related to raw pet food. Raw pet food is food
More on urban chickens: Part II
A reasonable question, expanding on the recent discussion about urban chickens and disease risks, is: why don’t we know how often people get sick from urban chickens?
To answer the question, we need to think about how diseases are diagnosed and reported.
Let’s say I decide to raise some chickens in my backyard.
More on urban chickens: Part I
Urban chickens continue to be in the news, with debate about instituting (or enforcing) bylaws banning or restricting the raising of chickens in backyards running next to articles on how to raise your own backyard flock.
People have various concerns, including:
- Noise
- Attracting wildlife, including predators such as coyotes
- Smell
- Infectious diseases
- Animal welfare
But
CPHAZ symposium presentations online
Presentations from the 2015 Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses (CPHAZ) Symposium are now on YouTube on the Worms & Germs Blog channel.
There is a wide range of talks, including topics such as West Nile virus, Lyme disease, salmonellosis, MRSA, Toxoplasma and various other zoonotic diseases.
NDM-1 in Salmonella…ugh!
NDM-1 (New Delhi metalloproteinase 1) is a little bacterial gene that’s attracted a lot of attention (and controversy, due to its name). NDM-1 can be picked up by certain types of bacteria, making them resistant to a whole lot of antibiotics. Some bacteria that carry NDM-1 are resistant to virtually every available antibiotic, which raises
Look up before opening your mouth
Recently, Kings of Leon canceled an outdoor concert after a pigeon (with very good aim, apparently) in the rafters above the stage managed to poop on band members, including one shot that hit the face of the band’s bassist.
Besides, the "ick-factor," what are the concerns?
Various studies have found potentially nasty microorganisms in pigeon