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.
Guelph Humane Society reopens
The Guelph Humane Society has re-opened after a temporary closure to manage a potential ringworm outbreak. The shelter took an aggressive, proactive approach to the issue, including testing and treatment of all animals and thorough disinfection of the facility.
Looking back on a proactive outbreak response like this one, it’s always hard to say if
Newmarket OSPCA in the news…again
On my way to Beth’s soccer practice yesterday, I heard a blurb on the radio about how Frank Klees, MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) told the legislature that the Newmarket OSPCA was going to euthanize all their animals because of a ringworm outbreak, and that three employees had been fired because they objected to the number
Another shelter outbreak…a different response
‘Tis the season for ringworm, I guess.
The Guelph Humane Society has closed to visitors, and adoptions have been suspended in response to concerns about the potential for a ringworm outbreak. Implementing a proactive response, all animals are being tested for ringworm and all cats are being treated. While the scope of the problem isn’t yet
KW shelter ringworm outbreak continues
As expected, the KW humane society ringworm outbreak has gone from "we’ll be open in a couple days" to "it may take months to clear it up."
The scope of the outbreak isn’t really clear from press reports, but "a couple" of other animals now have signs of the skin disease.
KW Humane Society outbreak update
The latest info on the ringworm outbreak at the KW Human society come from the Waterloo Record (unfortunately there’s still no information on the Humane Society’s own website…).
The facility was closed to the public on August 4th because three cats and one dog were showing unspecified signs of ringworm.
Samples were collected for testing
Local shelter ringworm outbreak
A short distance down the road from here, the Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society has been quarantined because of an apparent ringworm outbreak. There’s no information on the facility’s website and information in the press has been pretty vague (both concerning aspects), but it sounds like a ringworm outbreak. Adoptions have been ceased and the Humane
Guinea pigs and ringworm
As with most "pocket pets," guinea pigs don’t get a lot of attention in the scientific literature. As a result, we are limited in what we know about certain diseases in this species, and we tend to rely a lot on personal experience, small case studies and extrapolation from other species. It’s not that these
New guinea pig…new ringworm outbreak
A Kitchener, Ontario family is dealing with a household outbreak of ringworm, likely contracted from a new pet guinea pig. Ringworm is a fungal infection cause by a few different types of fungi. Some ringworm fungi are able to infect both people and animals, and those can be spread in households from direct contact
Animal shelter outbreaks
Infectious diseases are continuous challenges for animal shelters. Unfortunately, outbreaks are not uncommon. Sometimes they’re the result bad luck and the inherent risks involved in bringing together lots of animals of questionable health status from different sources. However, if you compound these risks with things like inadequate facilities, overcrowding, poor training of personnel, poor adherence