By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationHuman deaths from rabies are common in some developing countries (where tens of thousands die from canine rabies every year) but rare in developed countries. It’s an almost invariably fatal disease, but at the same time it’s almost completely preventable because of the quality of vaccines and post-exposure prophylaxis available. Getting those treatments to the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Horses,Other diseases,VaccinationBeing an equine vet in some parts of Australia (namely Queensland) is scary… to the point that people are leaving equine practice or refusing to treat certain cases. That’s because of Hendra virus, a bat-associated virus that infects horses and which can spill over into people. It hasn’t infected many people, but it is most… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationCanine influenza continues to cause problems in Ontario. The central Ontario (Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Orillia) clusters continue to be monitored, with new positives that were expected based on known contact with infected dogs. Whether these clusters have been contained (or are containable) remains to be seen. Testing and contact tracing continues. As mentioned previously, there was… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationThe World Health Organization has issued new rabies vaccination and post-exposure prophylaxis recommendations. Here are some of the highlights: Post-exposure prophylaxis People who have not been previously vaccinated against rabies should receive immunoglobulin (antibody) promptly, followed by a series of rabies vaccines. Immunoglobulin can be given after vaccination has started, if logistics require that; however, it… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationThe recent H3N2 canine influenza cluster in Ontario is hopefully still contained. Some infected dogs continue to shed the virus, but a good thing about flu is that there’s no long-term carrier state. Dogs will typically shed the virus for a couple of weeks, but then it should be gone. Accordingly, if the affected dogs… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationA Fremont, California dog park was temporarily closed in response to concerns about canine leptospirosis after 4 reports of dogs contracting the disease, potentially associated with exposure at the park. It’s always hard to determine the source of exposure with lepto, but a park is certainly possible. We don’t understand a lot about how and where… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationNot surprisingly, “should my dog be vaccinated against flu?” has been a very common question over the past few days. Here’s my take on vaccination of Canadian dogs, with the assumption that the recent H3N2 flu cluster in southwestern Ontario has been contained (something that is likely but is still to be determined). Who should… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Rabies,VaccinationWe track a few different diseases, both for research and for general education, including rabies. The maps below provide an overview of rabies in dogs, cats and horses in the US in 2017. It’s not a complete representation of cases, since we don’t have access to everyone’s surveillance data. It’s compiled through monitoring various reports… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationLeptospirosis is a potentially nasty bacterial infection that can cause severe kidney disease (among other things) and is acquired from the environment, in cool damp areas that are contaminated with urine from infected reservoir hosts (e.g. rats, raccoons, other wildlife). It can also potentially be transmitted to people through contact with urine from an infected… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Horses,Rabies,VaccinationIf a horse comes into the hospital at this time of year and has some difficulty standing, incoordination and mild fever, the first thing on my list of likely causes is probably equine herpesvirus type I (EHV-1) infection. Next would be West Nile virus encephalitis. However, we consider all sudden onset neurological disease cases in… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,VaccinationThe recent H3N2 canine flu outbreak centred around dog shows in Florida has led to the usual round of questions and concerns. How many dogs have been affected? Hard to say. Cases aren’t carefully tracked and it is reasonable to assume that the majority of dogs that developed influenza (especially mild disease) were never diagnosed.… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationTwo rabid dogs have been identified in Whapmagoostui, a Cree community in a remote region of northern Quebec. Rabies is very rare in dogs in Canada, and in recent years, much of the concern has revolved around rabies in dogs from northern communities. Rabies is endemic in Arctic foxes, and dogs can be infected from… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationEvery few weeks I get a call or an email about travel-associated rabies exposure concerns. It’s usually from someone traveling to southeast Asia or India who has been bitten by a stray dog. Most of the time, it’s an unvaccinated person and the dog isn’t available for monitoring or testing. Since rabies is endemic in… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationLately I’ve had a run on questions from veterinarians along the lines of “I have a client who is immunocompromised and their physician has said their pet should not receive a modified live vaccine. What should we do?” There are a few different types of vaccines. Modified live vaccines are vaccines comprised of (as the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationThis month, Public Health Ontario released a new Rabies Guidance Document for Healthcare Providers. It’s nothing particularly new but a good review of the recommended response to rabies exposure from various animal species, something that’s unfortunately often messed up or made more complicated than necessary. It includes some nice flowcharts, such as the one below. The full… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationIn many countries, rabies is a disease we’re concerned about but one that is rarely seen in domestic animals and is exceptionally rare in people. It’s easy to forget that people in other areas are confronted with a risk of rabies on a regular basis. Canine rabies is a major problem in Africa, leading to… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationThere tends to be confusion about what happens when an animal bites or is bitten, and rabies is being considered. Most of the confusion revolves around how long an animal is quarantined or observed. Yet, it’s actually pretty straightforward if you think about why quarantine/observation is being performed and some basics about the virus and… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Horses,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationThe 2016 Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control has been released by the US’s National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians (NASPHV). This version has updates in a few different areas, such as some changes to recommendations for dogs, cats and ferrets that have potentially been exposed to rabies. It can be downloaded directly here or be found… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationEvery few days, it seems, I get an email or call that goes something like “I was just bitten by [insert various mammals here]. Do I need to worry about rabies or do anything?” The answer’s pretty similar every time. While the relative risk posed by different animal species in different geographic regions varies, you… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Rabies,VaccinationRaccoon-variant rabies cases around the Hamilton area continue to trickle in slowly but steadily each week. The total number of cases is now up to 187 since December 2015, with 132 cases in raccoons and 53 in skunks. The remaining two cases were in less common – but not altogether unexpected – species: a fox… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Horses,Other diseases,Vaccination‘Tis the season for mosquitoes, so ‘tis the season for some nasty vector-borne diseases. Few are worse that Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), a viral infection that causes typically fatal disease in horses, and less commonly other species, including people. Cases tend to start mid-summer and peak late summer to fall, depending on the mosquito dynamics… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,Rabies,VaccinationI’ve written a lot about the issues of dog importation and the diseases that can sometimes “come along for the ride”. However, high risk movement doesn’t need to be international. Any movement from a high risk area can be a concern. A recent article in Canadian Communicable Disease Report (Curry et al. 2016) addresses the issue of… Continue Reading
By Maureen Anderson on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationCanine influenza has once again reared its ugly head in fairly spectacular fashion, this time in Bloomington, IL. Apparently there have been numerous laboratory-confirmed cases, and also many suspected cases, and likely still more cases that have gone completely unreported. It’s estimated that “hundreds” of dogs may have been affected already – it’s very difficult… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Cats,Dogs,Other animals,Rabies,VaccinationSuccess can breed apathy. Apathy can lead to bad decisions. That’s a common problem with vaccinations. People lose sight of why we vaccinate. Growing up during a time when many major pathogens have been controlled by vaccines, it’s easy to forget about how bad those diseases are. Whether it’s resurgence in measles in people because… Continue Reading
