A common limitation of studies or case reports of zoonotic pathogens or infections is that they are one sided – they often just discuss the human case(s), or they just report carriage of a pathogen in animals. Case reports of human infections often only go as far as saying something along the lines of “

Shetland ponyThe bacterium Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (often simply called Streptococcus zooepidemicus) is one that I think I understand less and less, including the risks this predominantly equine-associated bug poses to humans. It’s a well-known and common bacterium in horses, both healthy and sick, and can also be found in dogs and cats (where it

Orange White KittenAnytime you see a case report in the medical literature, you know it must be something rare or new. Otherwise, no one would publish the occurrence of a single case. That can skew people’s perceptions because weird things get more attention.

So, it’s always hard to say what we should think about one-off reports of

I’ve been bitten lots of times, some on the job (including the last dog I saw when I was in general practice) and some off (including a dog down the road a couple of years ago). Fortunately, I haven’t suffered any serious consequences. That’s what happens most of the time. However, bad things can and do

Here is another equine update from guest blogger, Dr. John Prescott of the University of Guelph.

Research presented at the Ninth International Equine Infectious Disease conference last week in Lexington, Kentucky, highlighted the dramatic impact that the latest inexpensive genome sequencing techniques are having on understanding microbial disease. 

This is well illustrated by an epidemic