As SARS-CoV-2 reminded everyone, there are lots of undiscovered viruses out there, and some of them can cause disease in humans, animals, or both. It’s not very hard to find a new virus, actually. Figuring out what it means is often the challenge, because simply finding a virus in a sick person or animal doesn’t
Novel coronavirus and wildlife markets
While the whole story hasn’t been sorted out, it seems pretty clear that one or more animal species at the Wuhan Seafood Market (which sold much more than just aquatic animals and their products) was the source of the novel coronavirus. Just like SARS.
Once again, this has raised concerns about markets where diverse live
Novel coronavirus in China… Hold off on blaming snakes
The situation with this novel coronavirus in China is rapidly evolving, with more aggressive control measures locally and lots of planning elsewhere. Recently, snakes were suggested as the origin of this virus, which was surprising and contrary to the assumption that this would be traced back to bats.
Information (as well as speculation) now
New coronavirus: Companion animal concerns?
The recent reports of human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus that’s been identified in China certainly raise the stakes. While this virus still seems to be less transmissible and less virulent than its relative, the SARS coronavirus, it’s pretty early to have a lot of confidence in that. Lessons seem to have been learned
Outbreak Report #2: Salmonella from geckos
This is a smaller outbreak than the puppy outbreak from the previous post, probably in large part because fewer people have contact with geckos, but… Contact with reptiles such as geckos has been a known risk factor for human salmonellosis for years. That’s a big part of the reason for recommending that high risk
Outbreak Report #1: Campylobacter from puppies
A couple of recent outbreak reports are interesting, though unsurprising, and they help raise awareness about some important issues. Here’s the first one.
The CDC recently released an update on the ongoing investigation into antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter infections from puppies. Contact with puppies (and kittens) has been shown to be a risk factor for people
Mysterious Norwegian dog illness
Media reports have described a number of Norwegian dogs with unknown intestinal disease, characterized by vomiting and diarrhea. Cases were first reported in Oslo, with subsequent reports in other towns – whether this indicates spread of disease or spread of awareness isn’t clear. Oslo could be the epicentre of the disease, but it could
Pig ear treat warning
As the US salmonellosis outbreak linked to contaminated pig ear treats continues, the FDA and CDC are now taking the additional step of advising people to avoid all pig ear treats and for retailers to stop selling them. As the investigation continues, links to treats imported from Argentina and Brazil have been made, but
Update: US Salmonella/dog treat outbreak
The multi-state outbreak of salmonellosis linked to pig ear treats continues in the US. In the latest CDC report on the outbreak, 48 new infections have been added to the investigation since July 3, and 3 new Salmonella types are now involved (Salmonella Infantis, London and Newport). This brings them to a total
Carbapenemase-producing E coli in a veterinary hospital
New antimicrobial resistance challenges continue to emerge. In the veterinary field (especially in small animals), we have the advantage of seeing what’s happening in human medicine first, since that’s often an early warning system for what we’re going to encounter. We’ve seen a variety of resistant bacteria first became a problem in people, and then