Infectious Diseases & Epidemiology

The media buzz may have quieted considerably, but West Nile virus continues to cause illness and death nationwide and is here to stay. Within six years of the initial detection of this exotic mosquito-borne virus in New York, it has spread to all continental states, through Canada and Mexico, and into Central America.

Illness in young puppies usually commences between the 5th and 18th days after birth.

An owner showed up at a general practice in Florida with a 4-week-old kitten in a box that she had found in a golf cart. She took the kitten home and let her children play with it. Her primary complaint was that the kitten violently bit her and her children. How would you handle this case? At the clinic, the veterinarian did not let her take the kitten out of the box. Instead, he advised her to call animal control immediately. Days later, it turned out that the kitten was positive for rabies. In this case, the veterinarian saved his staff from exposure to rabies.

Cats with FIP show multifocal or localized neurologic signs, and they are often younger than 2 years of age.

Although best known for helping to stop the spread of an Ebola virus outbreak in a laboratory in Reston, Va., as recounted in The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, retired U.S. Army colonels Jerry and Nancy Jaax have returned to Kansas State University, where they met, married, and earned their veterinary degrees. Both are internationally recognized experts on infectious diseases and high-hazard chemical and biological agents.

Visit the new Central Veterinary Conference Web site . . . www.TheCVC.com

Ithaca, N.Y. — Canine parvovirus has undergone epidemic-like growth since its emergence in the late 1970s, effectively doubling its population size every few years.

Fakieh paid nearly $900,000 for 8,000 bottles, all mislabeled on USDA shipping forms.

ST. PAUL MINN.-A better way of understanding how rabies affects infected animals is being researched in the Serengeti.

NEW YORK- A new equine influenza vaccine has updated the equine influenza isolate in the United States.

About 30 percent of clinical cases either die or must be euthanized.

Feline panleukopenia is a highly contagious disease with a worldwide distribution in wild and domestic felids.

Pittsburg, Texas -Animal health officials believe they have contained an outbreak of avian influenza (AI) resulting in a major cull of 24,000 birds from the second largest poultry producer in the United States, Pilgrim's Pride.

Phoenix-recording vitals before administering a rabies vaccine has been omitted from veterinarians' regimen in a change of rules passed by the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examiners Board.

FRANKFORT, KY. -The Kentucky legislature voted to mandate rabies vaccinations for the state's large cat population.

UF researchers link equine influenza virus to canine susceptibility

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a disease process initiated in some cats by the effects of a corona virus (FCoV). Clinical signs may include fever that is not resolved by antibiotic therapy, anorexia and weight loss.

Fort Dodge Animal Health has launched www.felovaxfiv.com, a new Web site to raise awareness about feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV).

The incidence and awareness of canine ehrlichiosis have increased dramatically during the last few years. Some ehrli-chia organisms have been reclassified with new nomenclature using highly specific molecular testing procedures.

The USDA has granted a full license to Fort Dodge Animal Health for its West Nile Virus (WNV) vaccine, labeled West Nile - Innovator(tm).

A neurological strain of EHV-1 strikes northwest Ohio city; cause eludes investigators

Signalment: Canine, Basset Hound, 9 weeks old, female, 12 lbs.

New York-People in the swine industry are infected with swine influenza more often than previously thought, according to a report in a recent issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Albuquerque, N.M.-The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) warns against a new feline immunodeficiency (FIV) vaccine, not because it doesn't work, but because current antibody-based diagnostic tests don't differentiate between vaccinated cats and those infected with the disease, the group reports.

Purdue researchers monitor vaccine and its effects on the canine thyroid

Signs of hemorrhagic calicivirus

Los Angeles-A virulent, hemorrhagic strain of calicivirus ran through several practices in the L.A.-area like a brushfire and disappeared almost as quickly.

Washington-The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced it will provide an additional $4 million to states hardest hit by the West Nile virus.

Ames, Iowa-Although there are no documented cases of Nipah virus in the United States, it doesn't discount the virus' potential to cause lethal disease in humans and swine here.

Manhattan, Kan.-A Kansas State University (KSU) molecular biologist wants to improve the method of diagnosis for ehrlichiosis.