There's an article in the Seattle Times about a recent food safelty study showing that 80% of supermarket chickens test positive for pathogenic bacteria, mostly salmonella and camplyobacter, with antibiotic resistant staph making a showing as well. This isn't really news, other studies have had similar findings (a colleague of mine at VT did a ( Read more... )

There have been plans afoot for some time now to move the Plum Island animal disease lab to Kansas, a move which some folk have questioned, given the fact that this is the center of livestock farming country, a hub for animal travel, and lacks the helpful isolation of a large body of water around the facility. Not to mention being in tornado alley ( Read more... )

So I survived my first week of work. I have now spayed two kitties, neutered two dogs, removed a skin tumor, lost count of how many itchy dog ears and runny kitty eyes I've seen, and I only occasionally get to sit down briefly for lunch. I'm having to learn all the doses, and sometimes need to ask the other vet about antibiotic choices for various ( Read more... )

I took the job. Now we'll be scrambling to move by August.
My main hesitation had been the very small number of paid vacation days, so I asked about that and he increased it. Apparently all I had to do was ask. Who knew?

Tracey MacNamara. She was the pathologist for the Bronx zoo, who made the connection between dying crows, a cormorant (who are, btw, the most awesome birds ever), some flamingos and humans with encephalitis, leading to the discovery that West Nile virus had hit our shores ( Read more... )

So I don't know how many folk are familiar with the (unsupported by research) claims that vaccines cause autism. But it's taken a new turn; in the UK, a group called the Canine Health Concern are demanding that the government investigate risks to pets from vaccines, because they're concerned about vaccines potentially causing autism in their dogs. ( Read more... )

in a teenage girl, who was exposed to (though not aware of having been bitten by) bats during a caving trip, and developed encephalitis two months later. The serum antibody tests are pretty convincing; they increased and then fell, which indicates a current, active response, so it sounds like it must have been either rabies or another, previously ( Read more... )

White nose syndrome is in hellhole cave system, which is the largest bat hibernaculum in WV. Not all that far from me, really. Not only are my sweet little browns affected, but that cave holds 40% of the worlds population of VA big-eared bats. I'm hoping they'll try the antifungal treatment I've heard about on these bats; at this point, we've got ( Read more... )

If you've been following the saga of white-nose disease, you may have heard that New York and Massachusets have lost the vast majority of their bats already. The disease is spreading south and west, and it's in VA now. Even though it isn't completely clear how the fungus causes bat deaths, folks are starting to try treating caves of hibernating ( Read more... )

An article on how MD's can be some of the worst vet clients everAnd I can add one more anecdote to the list. I have a neighbor who's an ER doctor. SHe had a rabbit, who developed an itchy, alopecic area (lost fur). She asked me what it might be, and I suggested that it might be a fungal infection (like ringworm). I offerend to do a skin scraping ( Read more... )