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.
As someone who works with zoonotic diseases, I often find myself fighting battles on both sides of the issue. One side is trying to increase awareness about zoonotic diseases (i.e. those caused by microorganisms that are transmitted between animals and humans) and getting people to think about the potential role of animals in human infection.
How likely is E. cuniculi to be trasmitted from an infected rabbit to a dog? My sister has a positive rabbit and my dog was just diagnosed with kidney insufficiency. Now that the dog’s kidneys are compromised, should we be concerned?
Encephalitozoon cuniculi is a strange little organism that is now classified as a fungus
Urine from healthy animals is typically considered to be of little to no risk to people. This is generally true, at least for the otherwise healthy human population, but like with most things in infectious diseases, there are exceptions. An interesting one in rabbits is a bug called Encephalitozoon cuniculi. This microorganism (now classified
If your veterinarian suspects your pet may have ringworm, there are several different ways he or she may test for the causative fungus (a dermatophyte) on your animal’s fur and skin. Some of these techniques are more useful than others in different situations.
A recent report in the Medical Journal of Australia described the case of a woman who was pecked in the leg by her daughter’s pet magpie. The woman was otherwise healthy (i.e. she did not have a compromised immune system), but the wound became infected by the fungus Saksenaea vasiformis, which rarely causes
