Animal Health Institute

Veterinarians remind pet owners to vaccinate animals (via Baxter Bulletin)

admin — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:20:04 +0000

“Arkansas Department of Health officials are urging residents to vaccinate their pets for rabies after four animals in nearby Boone County tested positive for the disease this year. Officials say because skunks in the area have been found to have rabies, it puts the local animal population at risk, especially dogs and cats.”

H5N1 virus continues to spread (via WashingtonPost.com)

admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:21:28 +0000

“Recent human deaths in Asia and Egypt are a reminder that the H5N1 virus is still alive and dangerous, and Vietnam is grappling with a new strain that has outsmarted vaccines used to protect poultry flocks. Ten people have died in Cambodia, Indonesia, Egypt, China and Vietnam since December during the prime-time flu season when the virus typically flares in poultry.”

Education is paramount to preserving national food security and public health (via National Hog Farmer)

admin — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:30:33 +0000

“At the Center for Food Security and Public Health (CFSPH), over 30 veterinarians and students work to protect the nationa’s food supply. Immunologist and distinguished professor James Roth, DVM,was recruited in 2002 to organize the center to thwart the anthrax and other bioterrorism scares, armed with a three-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These days, the thrust, based on annual funding grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is mainly about protecting the nation’s meat, milk and poultry herds and flocks from the threat of foreign animal diseases.”

Case of equine influenza reported in California (via Redding.com)

admin — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:57:53 +0000

“A veterinarian has confirmed a case of horse flu in northern Tehama County, saying the strain may be more virulent than normal. One horse has a confirmed case of equine influenza, said Dr. William Gray, a veterinarian with the Cottonwood Veterinary Clinic. He said a swab sample was tested and verified today by the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of California, Davis.”

Swine dysentery – A re-emerging threat (via PorkNetwork)

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:41:18 +0000

“Over the past several years, swine dysentery, or bloody scours, has begun to re-emerge in the Midwest as well as Canadian operations, according to an Iowa State University publication. In 2005, only three samples were found positive by the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. By 2010, the number had grown to 84. Swine dysentery, which had largely disappeared during the 1990s, poses several challenges to pigs and producers alike. Once established in facilities the disease is expensive to treat and difficult to remove.”

Domestic Cats and Wild Cats Living in Same Area Share Diseases (via Science Daily)

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:59:00 +0000

“Domestic cats, wild bobcats and pumas that live in the same area share the same diseases. And domestic cats may bring them into human homes, according to results of a study of what happens when big and small cats cross paths. Scientists at Colorado State University and other institutions conducted the research.”

YouTube series shows veterinarians, livestock farmers at work (via AgriNews.com)

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:06:27 +0000

Veterinarians from Minnesota and Iowa volunteered to have a film crew follow them to livestock farms for a YouTube video series, “Veterinarians on Call,” that premiered in September. As of late January, 10 webisodes, each three to five minutes long, had been posted and at least four more are coming for season one. They document the work of one of six veterinarians on dairy, beef or pork farms. The most popular video has been watched approximately 36,000 times in the month it’s been posted.

Read more about the series at AgriNews.com.

Congress Urged to Reject Antibiotic Restrictions (via ThePigSite.com)

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:43:34 +0000

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is urging congressional members to oppose legislation that would restrict the use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry. In letters to Senate and House members, AFBF said the legislation would handicap veterinarians and farmers in their efforts to maintain animal health and protect the nation’s food supply.

Eight-year-old survives rabies (via UPI.com)

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:57:07 +0000

“Health officials said an 8-year-old girl was hospitalized, ultimately diagnosed with rabies and survived, even though rabies is usually fatal. A report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said the girl caught the disease after contact with free-roaming cats.” To protect people and animals, the CDC recommends vaccinating pets and avoiding unfamiliar animals.

Rabid bobcat and cow found in Georgia (via OnlineAthens)

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:15:34 +0000

“Animal control officers and veterinarians in Georgia are urging people to make sure their pets’ rabies vaccinations are up to date after authorities confirmed that a rabid cow had attacked its owner and rabid bobcat had attacked two dogs. Experts are calling both cases unusual but are not ready to say what the early and odd rabies cases mean for summer in Northeast Georgia, when reports of rabies seem to increase.”