We are looking to recruit Canadian veterinary clinic staff who have had COVID-19 themselves for a study to learn more about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from people to their own pets (dogs, cats, ferrets). This study is being performed by Drs. Scott Weese and Dorothee Bienzle from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph.
Who
The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, is seeking volunteers to participate in their Veterinary and Zoonotic Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and Other Coronaviruses Study. Their goals are to assess potential exposures to SARS-CoV-2 and other zoonotic pathogens among veterinary and animal healthcare workers, as well as clinical symptoms, mental health,
The amount of money being spent developing a COVID-19 vaccine is astounding. (The amount being spent on ensuring people will actually get such a vaccine, not so much – but that’s a different story.)
Beyond vaccine hesitancy, one potentially major issue with vaccination is inequity. Rich countries have greater ability to produce and/or buy vaccine.
As things change, both in the epidemiology of COVID-19 and our approach to containment, re-assessment of how we practice veterinary medicine and COVID-19 protection is important. The latest iteration of our guidance document has been released: COVID-19: A Guide to Reopening Veterinary Medicine in Ontario, Stage 3. As for the previous versions, this is
I’ve been away and need to catch up on some posts. I was planning a nice non-COVID post, until a few seconds ago when I saw the CNN headline “Chinese officials say chicken wings imported from Brazil tested positive for COVID-19.”
My response… oh crap.
Not because I fear a wave of foodborne
I get a lot of emails about vet clinic access from a wide spectrum of individuals. This includes:
As we continue to work our way through the COVID-19 pandemic, balancing protection and practicality continues to be a challenge. The desire to return to “normal(ish)” is completely understandable. However, “normal” is a long way away. It’s more a matter of what degree of “abnormal” we’re willing to tolerate (and for how long), and what
Things have been relatively quiet on the animal/COVID front for the past week or so (and that’s good). We’ll likely continue to see sporadic cases in pets that get infected from their owners. Hopefully, all of those cases will stop with the pet and there will be no further transmission to other people or animals
As we move forward in the COVID-19 era, a lot of things need to be done differently. We’ve written a lot about procedures in veterinary clinics to maximize distancing and protection while minimizing the impact on patient care. Many ancillary issues have also come up, including limiting or managing people other than clients going into
The title says it all, I guess. Here is the updated OVMA Guide to Reopening Veterinary Medicine in Ontario, Stage 2, hot of the press. It can also be accessed from the Worms & Germs COVID-19 Veterinary Resources page.
