In human medicine, a needlestick is a big deal. That’s not surprising because of concerns about transmission of bloodborne pathogens like hepatitis B and HIV.
In contrast, in veterinary medicine needlesticks are (unfortunately) largely considered “regular” events that aren’t really a big deal. Most of the time perhaps they’re not. They hurt, but serious consequences
Here’s a break from COVID-19 posts, because other infectious disease challenges do still exist!
The latest edition of Emerging Infectious Diseases has an interesting paper that provides an overview of a decade’s worth of cases of the fungal disease blastomycosis in Minnesota. Blastomycosis is caused by the fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis. It’s called a
There have been a few news reports about an apparent increased incidence of the fungal disease, blastomycosis, in dogs in Minnesota. Blastomycosis is an interesting disease with important “One Health” aspects. It’s caused by the fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis, that naturally lives in the soil in certain parts of the world. The risk is
I had an interesting question the other day about blastomycosis screening.
Blastomycosis is a nasty fungal disease caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis. The infectious form of this fungus (spores) lives in the environment, and dogs (and other species, including people) can develop serious disease after inhaling fungal spores (or being otherwise inoculated with spores, e.g.
Close to a dozen dogs in the Big Bay area of Michigan’s upper peninsula have been diagnosed with blastomycosis, an uncommon but regionally important disease. Blastomycosis is caused by a fungus, Blastomyces dermatitidis. It’s a dimorphic fungus, meaning it exists in 2 forms:
An important concept when dealing with infectious diseases is consideration of the risk that an animal has been, or will be, exposed to a particular microorganism. Some diseases vary greatly geographically, and something that’s very important in one region may be rare or non-existent in another. Good veterinarians are aware of disease trends in their
I just received this comment from a reader of an earlier post about blastomycosis:
What should be done if a person was bit by a dog with blasto? I was trying to pill a dog who has blasto and the dog just out of reflex shut her mouth on my finger. What are the
Most of the infectious disease topics that we’ve covered on Worms & Germs involve bacteria or viruses. Fungal diseases (other than ringworm) are often overlooked because they are less common, and because they tend to be more of a concern in certain areas only. However, when fungal infections occur they can cause serious
