Rat bite fever is a bit of a niche disease but one that I talk about a fair bit because it’s often missed, or at least diagnosed a lot later than it could (and perhaps should) be. It’s not an issue with technology or testing – it’s an issue of human behaviour and failing to
Simple Ways to Reduce Antibiotic Use
For this blog, I focus my writing on companion animal issues, but our group does much more than that, and a recent study of ours is worth a post here as well.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a huge issue globally. It’s a classic One Health problem with important human, animal and environment aspects, and it’s
Challenging COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation
Click here to download and read an open letter from a large group of University of Guelph faculty concerned about COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.
With freedom comes responsibility.
That applies to academic freedom too. It should not be used to provide cover for misrepresentation and misinformation.
Canine Influenza in the News: US
Canine influenza is back in the news in the US, with close to 50 dogs infected with canine influenza at a dog rescue in Florida. The outbreak has been going on for over two weeks already. This is a “surprising but not surprising” scenario to me.
It’s a bit surprising because canine flu activity
Cat Scratch Disease in a Child
A brief report in the latest edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal describes a child with lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes) due to cat scratch disease.
I was a bit surprised to see a straightforward case like this published in such a journal, but it’s a good reminder of a few issues.
Cat scratch
Update: Canine Respiratory Disease, Ontario (June 21)
As I mentioned recently, we’re tracking anecdotal reports of increased respiratory disease activity in dogs in Ontario. If you have observations or cases to contribute/report, please take a few minutes to fill out our short survey here:
https://uoguelph.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eP6E6AzIiJfnDlY
Infectious respiratory disease is endemic in dogs everywhere, so there’s always some disease activity going on. Sometimes
Update: A Guide to Mitigating the Risk of Infection in Veterinary Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic (June 2021)
The latest version of A Guide to Mitigating the Risk of Infection in Veterinary Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic (15-Jun-2021) has been released. It can also be accessed through the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association Coronavirus FAQ webpage (member login required).
The main changes are a new section summarizing various considerations for re-opening of veterinary practices
Taking Care of a COVID-19 Patient’s Pet
I get asked about this topic a lot. Early in the pandemic, I wrote a post about options for caring for pets of people with COVID-19. Some things have changed a bit now that we know more know about SARS-CoV-2 in animals and the associated zoonotic risks, and we have a vaccine for people.
Big Change in US Dog Importation Restrictions
We’ve seen some increased awareness of the risks associated with dog importation, and countries taking measures to reduce disease and welfare problems, including here in Canada and more recently potential future measures in the UK.
The US just raised the bar a huge amount with new restrictions on importation of dogs from over 100
Canine Respiratory Disease Issues, Ontario?
I get calls about concerns regarding increased respiratory disease in dogs all the time.
- Sometimes, they’re the result of local disease outbreaks.
- Sometimes, they’re just a result of increased awareness of the normal “baseline” disease rate, since “kennel cough” is always occurring at some level.
- Sometimes, the circumstances just seem different, and we need to