Hand hygiene is an incredibly basic every-day infection control measure, and one of the most important means of preventing the spread of infectious pathogens. Hand hygiene should be used at home, at work, and especially in healthcare environments where there may be more bugs and more susceptible individuals. That includes veterinary clinics. Also keep in
Are we too clean?
A recent episode of the popular TVO current affairs show "The Agenda with Steve Paikin" explores the topic of “Our Relationship with Cleanliness" – an informative, yet fun look at the topic of germs. Panelists (including yours truly) take a cultural, historical, psychological and sociological look at the microorganisms on us and around us –
Canadian human antimicrobial use report, 2012/2013
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has released the 2012/2013 Human Antimicrobial Drug Use Report.
Why write about this on a site dedicated to zoonotic diseases and diseases of animals? For a few different reasons, actually. One is that we have to realize that antibiotics (and bacteria) don’t care if drugs are used
How to fix an iPad
//www.youtube.com/embed/GNrrKm8ks7I
Sorry… nothing to do with zoonotic diseases, but still entertaining. Our two iPads stopped working over one weekend last October. Figuring they were destined for recycling, I came across some internet posts that said “whack it.” I figured that I had nothing to lose and if nothing else, I’d get the satisfaction of beating
International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) symposium, 2014
The International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases (ISCAID) and International Feline Retroviral Research Symposium have joined forces for a combined conference in 2014. This meeting, which would be of relevance to veterinary researchers and veterinary clinicians with an interest in infectious diseases, will be held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario (Canada) Oct 19-22. More information can
From the archives….the mysteries of the 100 acre wood
Another popular post from the archives, and a nice light topic for the holidays! (Original post date 25-Nov-2010).
Pardon my straying from the zoonotic disease realm, but here’s a little light reading…
Medical Mysteries of the 100-Acre Wood
Children around the world have been entertained by activities in the 100-acre-wood for decades. But
Zoonoses for physicians
I just read a recent Medscape article entitled Human-Animal Interactions: a primer for clinicians. I assumed it would be one more relatively generic article about zoonoses, focusing on agriculture. Some of those aspects were there, but it had a lot more depth than I expected and went beyond the same old superficial talking points.
The Twelve Days of Zoonoses
For the complete song lyrics, see below. For the grand finale by the Worms&Germs singers (otherwise known as members of the Rainbow Chorus of Waterloo-Wellington – more details below!), click on the YouTube video.
//www.youtube.com/embed/mCCF1xdpJ8w
On the first day or Christmas, my true love gave to me,
A dog with lepto in its pee.
The Trouble With Gloves
When it comes to hand hygiene, there is an unfortunately all-too-common misconception that wearing gloves makes hand washing or using alcohol-based hand rub unnecessary. In veterinary and human medicine, gloves, like hand hygiene, are typically used for two reasons: to prevent spread of germs or chemicals from a patient/person/object/surface to a person’s hands, and/or to
Mythbusters: Pandemics and new diseases
I read an interesting article earlier this week that I felt was worth sharing. The article, which appeared in the Huffington Post, is entitled “7 common myths about pandemics and new diseases” written by Dr. William Karesh, executive VP for health and policy with the EcoHealth Alliance. It talks about several misconceptions