A paper in the journal BMC Research Notes describes a case of meningitis in a 73-year-old man that was attributed to contact with a horse (Madzar et al 2015). The man was admitted to hospital with fever, headache, neck stiffness, malaise and drowsiness. He was ultimately diagnosed with meningitis caused by Streptococcus zooepidemicus
Probiotics…above all, do no harm?
Probiotics are popular treatments for any number of ailments (in animals and people), but marketing, especially on the veterinary side, massively outstrips research. A few years ago, I worked on probiotic development in horses. We found what looked like a good candidate bug, but instead of just trying to sell it, we did a proper
Antibiotics in animals: ACVIM consensus statement
Every year, the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM) commissions "consensus statements" on specific topics. They’re developed by an expert panel, put up for review by ACVIM members (board certified veterinary internal medicine specialists), and published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
Hot off the (electronic) press is the 2015 ACVIM Consensus
Communication done right: EVH-1 in Minnesota
Two cases of EHV-1 have been detected on a farm in Prior Lake, Minnesota. There aren’t a lot of details about the cases, other than one horse was put down, and the other was taken to the University of Minnesota veterinary hospital for treatment and has apparently recovered and is ready to come home.
Equine outbreaks…EHV-1, glanders
Two cases of fatal equine herpesvirus type I (EHV-1) neurological disease have been confirmed in the Dickinson, Texas, area. Three more recent deaths are suspected to be associated with the virus as well. The horses were from two boarding stables that are currently under quarantine, as is a veterinary clinic. As always, there’s a
EEE in Ontario 2014
2014 was the worst year ever for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in Ontario (though our numbers still pale in comparison to more endemic areas in the southern US, such as Florida). A recent article published in the Animal Health Lab (AHL) Newletter (December 2014) by Dr. Alison Moore from OMAFRA sums things up well:
"Twenty-two
2013 US rabies recap
It’s that time of year. No, not for snow (although it is snowing here at the moment). It’s time for the annual US rabies surveillance report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (Dyer et al. Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2013).
The highlights…
- Over 5800 rabid animals
Never a simple story: West Nile in California
Orange County CA is currently experiencing a major outbreak of West Nile infection in people. Since January 94 cases have been confirmed, three of which were fatal, representing nearly a quarter of the 400 cases reported across the country so far this year. The number of cases of infection with a mosquito-borne virus like West
EEE alert, Ontario
The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has issued an Equine Health Advisory in response to diagnosis of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in a horse in Stormont/Dundas/Glengarry, in eastern Ontario. The 12-year-old gelding died, which is the typically outcome with this disease in horses.
EEE is a devastating but fortunately rare (at least
St. Louis encephalitis in a horse
Hopefully we can chalk this one up on the "weird and not-so-wonderful" list, and not have it emerge as a significant problem. However, there’s something new to pay attention to as St. Louis Encephalitis virus (SLEV) infection was recently identified in a Brazilian horse with neurological clinical signs.
SLEV is a Flavivirus and a