Infectious Diseases & Epidemiology

Veterinarians have been called on to keep the new swine flu strain out of U.S. swine herds.

Atlanta - The number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States climbed to 20 as the outbreak continues to take on greater proportions in Mexico.

Reports of outbreaks among humans in in the U.S. and internationally have increased.

Fifteen states will divide $11 million in grants to increase food safety.

Distemper occurs intermittently, especially in shelters located in communities with many unvaccinated dogs, and can appear identical to run-of-the-mill "kennel cough."

Canine parvo and feline panleukopenia are closely related viruses that replicate in rapidly dividing cells.

Animal shelters create a unique environment for the emergence and propagation of infectious diseases.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) continues to be a significant disease in domestic cats.

An outbreak of respiratory disease occurred in a kennel of racing greyhounds in 2004.

Parvoviruses remain a significant enteric pathogen of cats and dogs.

Feline herpesvirus is a common pathogen of domestic cats.

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) remains a significant threat to cats.

This flagellated protozoan parasite is found in the gastrointestinal tract of animals including man.

The parvoviruses are small nonenveloped single stranded DNA virus. Three are known to infect dogs.

Cryptococcus neoformans is a saprophytic round yeast-like fungus with the ability to form a heteropolysaccharide capsule in tissues.

In the USA, caused by spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi – it is the most common tick-transmitted zoonotic diseases in North America.

This systemic bacterial infection of dogs (and very rarely, cats) causes mainly acute nephritis and hepatitis, vasculitis, and chronic carrier states.

This disease is caused by the zoonotic hemoflagellate protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.

Parasites are major causes of respiratory tract disease in the dog and cat. Recent advances in therapy of these diseases have been made providing the practicing veterinarian with a more rational treatment modality.

Filarial nematode infection of dogs and cats – Dirofilaria immitis – adults (female worms up to 30 cm in length) live in pulmonary arteries causing respiratory, cardiac, and in some cases, renal disease.

These tick-borne diseases of dogs and cats cause vasculitis leading to multisystemic dysfunction often characterized by thrombocytopenia and hyperglobulinemia.

Bartonellosis is an important emerging disease in humans and has been recognized to cause clinical disease in several other species, including dogs and cats.

In this three-part video, Dr. Sarah Cleaveland discusses the Afya Serengeti Project.

A new species of Bartonella, Candidatus Bartonella melophagi, that has only recently been identified in sheep has now also been isolated in two women, which adds to the increasing number of Bartonella species that have been found in people in the past 10 years.

Atlanta -- Cumulative veterinary cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) are down to 203 nationwide.

Baton Rouge, La. -- A barn at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Race Course was placed under quarantine Dec. 26 after two horses tested positive for the equine herpes virus (EHV-1).

National report -- Four confirmed cases of contagious equine metritis (CEM) in Kentucky last month triggered an investigation that so far involves all but 12 states, according to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health inspection Service (APHIS).

College Park, Md. -- A team of researchers specializing in the study of the Avian Influenza virus, H9N2, at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine say they have developed a universal vaccine for animals that may also help prevent or delay the spread of the virus to humans.

Researchers in Maryland may have identified a key to a universal flu vaccine.

Ithaca, N.Y. -- Researchers at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine have developed a vaccine against Johne's disease, a contagious, chronic and often fatal infection.