A house cat in the Eagle, Colorado area has been diagnosed with pneumonic plague. Plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, is a disease that still strikes fear into people. While we are long since removed from the period where the "black death" killed a large percentage of the population in Europe
G-force and zoonotic disease
It seems like whenever a hit TV show or movie features an animal, there’s concern about the "101 Dalmatians effect," whereby there’s a mad rush to get the animal for a pet. When 101 Dalmatians was a hit movie, there was a huge spike in sales of this rather unusual breed – a
Listeriosis in a dog from recalled meat?
A Windsor, Ontario woman is convinced that her dog acquired listeriosis afetr eating recalled hot dogs. Last week, Maple Leaf Foods recalled various hot dog products because of low-level contamination with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, the cause of listeriosis. Her dog Tigger was fed four hot dogs one evening, and the next morning
Humane society kids camp
I’m back from a week away with no internet access, so I have some catching up to do. One of the first things I stumbled across on my return was an article in the Guelph Tribune about a summer kids camp at the Guelph Humane Society. At the camp the kids get exposed to various
Groundhog day – Not again!
If a groundhog sees its shadow, there’s more winter on the way. If it doesn’t see its shadow, spring is coming soon. So what does it mean when a groundhog attacks a cop?
MRSA testing and false advertising
I received a flyer from Zoologix, a company that offers various (typically unvalidated and unproven) PCR tests for animals. The flyer headline was "Pets can carry MRSA – but testing can help."
Testing in certain situations is useful, but this is almost always limited to diagnosis of animals with active infections (i.e. they’re
All natural organic antibiotic?
A recent press release from All Pet Naturals proclaims "First All Natural Organic Antibiotic for Pets Now Available."
I know that "organic" and "all natural" are big catch-words for some people, and may be mistakenly perceived as indicators of safety or quality. There are very good reasons why
Zebra sidelines football player
No, I’m not talking about a referee, I’m talking about a real zebra. Pittsburgh State football player Joe Windscheffel will miss the entire upcoming season after being attacked by a zebra on a farm in Kansas. In a related story, Kansas State University Professor Gary West remarked about various problems associated with people owning exotic
Salmonella Apapa from a reptile
A recent case report in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (Cooke et al. 2009) described isolation of Salmonella Apapa from the feces of a 67-year-old woman with abdominal pain. The patient had a history of various medical disorders but no clear evidence of a compromised immune system. She was hospitalized, and Salmonella Apapa was
Brucella canis: the other Brucella
Brucellosis can be a pretty nasty disease. Most people with brucellosis are infected through ingestion of contaminated food or contact with infected farm animals. Brucella abortus, B. melitensis and B. suis are the most common bacterial species involved. However, there is also another Brucella species, B. canis, which (as the name implies) is associated