Veterinary Infection Control Services (Vet-ICS)

01/11/2024

Viruses and other pathogenic organisms are quite creative in finding ways to enter new geographic areas. Just look at what the cat brought home. Pepper, who belongs to a microbiologist, caught and killed a mouse carrying the first jeilongvirus found in the United States.

Jeilongvirus can infect mammals, reptiles, birds and fish. Occasionally it causes serious illness in humans. Unfortunately (not unexpectedly), the virus isolated from Pepper's kill, had mutated into a form that makes it easier to transmit to humans.

This case illustrates the point that human infectious diseases often originate from animals.

https://www.healthday.com/health-news/pets/when-this-black-cat-crossed-his-path-it-was-a-lucky-day-for-medicineJeilingoviruses

10/11/2021

For the Doxie lovers out there.

For all you We**ie lovers 💕

23/09/2021

Equine mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), a type of stem cell, offer a promising treatment for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. Secretions from equine MSCs, aka secretome, significantly decreased the viability of MRSA in a novel equine skin wound model infected with MRSA.

Quote: "By identifying additional effective treatments," she [Dr. Charlotte Marx] said, "we can contribute to reducing the use of antibiotics in both veterinary and human medicine, which is important for the fight against antibiotic resistance."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/09/210916124020.htm

A new study has found the antimicrobial properties of certain stem cell proteins could offer a potential treatment to reduce infection in skin wounds.

21/02/2021

The American Veterinary Medical Association has published a report on Antimicrobial Resistant Pathogens Affecting Animal Health in the United States. Check their website for their Antimicrobial Stewardship flyer and their helpful table of Animal Pathogens of Heightened Concern.

https://www.avma.org/sites/default/files/2020-10/AntimicrobialResistanceFullReport.pdf

09/10/2020

The FDA is seeking to update its approach for ranking antimicrobials according to their relative importance in human medicine. The possible new ranking can impact the use of antimicrobial drugs in both food and companion animal medicine. (FYI - In the past, the focus has been on the use of antimicrobials in food animals.) This concept paper provides details about how the FDA proposes to set up the new rankings.

Concept Paper: Potential Approach for Ranking of
Antimicrobial Drugs According to Their Importance
in Human Medicine: A Risk Management Tool for
Antimicrobial New Animal Drugs

https://www.fda.gov/media/142846/download?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

16/09/2020

Equine Coronavirus (ECoV) in Adult Horses
(Thanks to , Merck Animal Health, and Dr. Nicola Pusterla for the informative presentation on this topic September 16, 2020)

ECoV alone can cause clinical signs. Common clinical signs include lethargy, fever and anorexia. In more severe cases, colic, watery diarrhea and/or neurologic signs can occur.

The preferred diagnostic test is qPCR, although virus isolation, Ag-detecting ELISA, and electron microscopy are available.

For horses with lethargy, fever, and/or anorexia of unknown origin, it is recommended that a f***l sample be collected, as well as blood and intranasal swabs. If the blood and swab are negative for respiratory pathogens, the f***l sample can be tested to ECoV.

Infected horses can be infective for up to 14 days. Because there is no vaccine, strong biosecurity and infection control measures are the keys to prevention:
-- isolate sick and suspected horses, and monitor them daily,
-- wear appropriate PPE,
-- practice barrier nursing, good hand hygiene and cleanliness,
-- decrease traffic throughout the setting,
-- use dedicated equipment and personnel for sick and suspect horses.

ECoV is susceptible to most disinfectants. Clean the affected area, then apply disinfectant as directed by the manufacturer (because many disinfectants will NOT work in the presence of organic material, e.g., f***s).

10/08/2020

Although COVID-19 continues to make headlines in the news, let us not forget another virus that has very nearly a 100% kill rate - rabies. Not only does it infect people, but it also infects a wide range of animals, who can then transmit the virus to people. The use of an oral vaccine for wildlife can help prevent some of those infections.

https://www.agweb.com/article/usda-aphis-distributes-oral-rabies-vaccine-bait-select-us-states?fbclid=IwAR15YiqaHUWP_olrjuMEH9Kgl5mGWLvLZdkJPrSvvllTgnFEuIHW_FFBKm4

USDA-APHIS Distributes Oral Rabies Vaccine Bait In Select U.S. States by Rhonda Brooks | Read more Regional News about Agriculture and Crop Production on AgWeb.

03/12/2019

A vaccine to prevent feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is in development. Its success would be a huge step in saving cats as there is currently no way to protect them from this 100% fatal disease.

A vaccine that could save the lives of countless domestic cats is being developed at Colorado State University (CSU).

24/11/2019

Ongoing research on the rabies virus may provide crucial evidence for the development of a new vaccine that would prevent the virus from shutting down the immune system in infected hosts. Mass vaccination of dogs is very important for preventing the spread of rabies to people. Unfortunately, finding and catching dogs is difficult in parts of the world where rabies still kills far too many people every year. New vaccine approaches could help prevent those deaths.

Researchers have found a way to stop the rabies virus shutting down the body's immune defence against it. In doing so they have solved a key scientific puzzle and have laid the foundation for the development of new anti-rabies vaccines.

03/10/2019

West Nile Virus (WNV) is causing disease and death in people here in California. There have been 112 cases of human disease and 3 deaths in 2019. This mosquito-borne, zoonotic virus also infects horses and birds. Although most infections do not cause signs of illness, severe illness and death occur in horses, humans, and birds. Please vaccinate your horses and protect yourself from mosquitos. Report any dead birds you find so that they can be tested for WNV.

http://www.westnile.ca.gov/

15/03/2019

Are you using the right disinfectant for the job?
Do you measure your dilution?
How much contact time do you allow?
Does your team spray and wipe?
What is the shelf life of your disinfectant?
What's the difference between sanitizing and disinfecting?
Do you top off your diluted disinfectant?
Do you mix disinfectants and/or cleaning solutions?
Do you train your team on the proper use of each cleaning or disinfectant used in your practice?

Dr. Jason Stull did a great job covering these topics at the 2019 Western Veterinary Conference. This article provides an easy to read, in-depth explanation of the when, what, why and how to use disinfectants in the veterinary practice.

For more in-depth information about other infection control and prevention strategies, please see "Compendium of Veterinary Standard Precautions for Zoonotic Disease Prevention in Veterinary Personnel " by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians Veterinary Infection Control Committee, 2015 (http://www.nasphv.org/Documents/VeterinaryStandardPrecautions.pdf)

https://www.aaha.org/professional/resources/infection_prevention_and_biosecurity.aspx

Infection prevention and biosecurity are an essential part of patient care and should play an important role in the daily practice of veterinary medicine. All veterinary practice team members, from veterinarians to kennel attendants, must maximize measures to prevent the spread of infectious pathoge...

13/03/2019

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Western Veterinary Conference. Several of the lectures I attended focused on antimicrobial use and stewardship. In that spirit, I thought I would offer some useful guidelines for the use of antimicrobials in treating UTIs in dogs and cats.

Since these guidelines were published, there have been two studies of note (Westropp et al. J Vet Intern Med 2012;26:506–512 and Clare et al. J Vet Intern Med 2014;28:818–826) that suggest a shorter duration of treatment (less than 7 days) in dogs with uncomplicated UTIs is just as effective as longer duration of treatment, depending on the antibiotic used.

This would certainly be advantageous, not only in terms of helping avoid antibiotic resistance, but also in terms of increasing pet owner compliance with antimicrobial therapy.

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/vmi/2011/263768/

Urinary tract disease is a common reason for use (and likely misuse, improper use, and overuse) of antimicrobials in dogs and cats. There is a lack of comprehensive treatment guidelines such as those that are available for human medicine. Accordingly, guidelines for diagnosis and management of urina...

05/04/2018

Although this paper cites studies in human medicine, all medical professionals should be aware of the importance of infection control and its relationship to antimicrobial stewardship. Practicing proper infection control, especially hand hygiene, can reduce the need for antibiotics, i.e., reduces the spread of infectious organisms. This leads to a decrease in antimicrobial resistance and fewer infections with "super bugs" in both people and animals.

Infection prevention and control programs are essential to antibiotic stewardship efforts in all clinical settings, according to a position paper published by three infectious disease societies.Members of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), the Society for Healthcare Epide...

30/03/2018

Duck enteritis virus (DEV), which infects geese, swans, and ducks, is fatal in nearly 100% of cases.

Domestic ducks are also a key reservoir for severe avian influenza (AI) strains in Southeast Asia. As such, they can spread avian influenza to other bird species.This makes them an important target for vaccination campaigns.

Researchers at The Pirbright Institute have used a CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique to create a single vaccine against both avian influenza and DEV.

We look forward to seeing if this vaccine is further developed for wide-spread use in the vaccination campaign against AI.

http://mrcvs.co.uk/en/news-story.php?id=17116

MRCVSonline is targeted at vets, providing veterinary surgeons, practice managers, vet nurses and more with the latest news, resources, careers and events.

29/09/2017

It's probably longer than you think and most definitely longer than what most people actually do... even veterinary professionals.

13/09/2017

Another reminder to wash your hands after handling pets. Even cute, cuddly puppies can carry a nasty pathogen that can infect you. Young children are particularly at risk, so be sure your children wash their hands thoroughly after playing with and petting animals.

Quote: "Campylobacteriosis, a common bacterial infection, can cause diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever, according to the CDC."

​As of Monday, a total of 39 people have fallen ill in seven states​.

06/09/2017

I admit it - I enjoy watching Forensics Files while I workout.

Today I caught an episode on the epidemiologic investigation of a strange outbreak of a flu-like disease in 1996 among the Navajo population in the Four Corners region. This disease primarily affected the lungs and was associated with a high rate of mortality.

It was quite interesting to see how they linked the outbreak to a disease that had sickened our soldiers during the Korean War 40 years prior to the outbreak in Four Corners. In fact, the name of the pathogen is derived from the area in Korea in which soldiers were infected. Unfortunately, the symptoms were not quite identical since the affected soldiers also had uremic symptoms not seen in this US outbreak.

The Healers among the Navajo provided crucial information regarding previous outbreaks that had occurred even further back in their history. They noted that those outbreaks, as well as the current one, had occurred in the springtime after heavy rains when the mouse population exploded.

One more clue - The CDC recommends that people wear a mask when cleaning up mouse droppings or areas contaminated with mouse droppings or urine to prevent infection with this pathogen.

Does this provide you with enough clues to take a guess at what this zoonotic pathogen is?

21/06/2017

According to the Companion Animal Parasite Council, 2017 will see an increase in heartworm. This is due to the above average rainfall we have had, as well as warmer than usual weather.

Please protect your pets with a heartworm preventive medication. In addition, you can use one of the flea medications that also protects your pets against mosquitos, the vector that transmits heartworms. By using both types of products, your pet has the best chance of avoiding heartworm disease - cuts down on the transmission rate and kills the early form of heartworms before they become damaging adult worms.

https://www.avma.org/news/javmanews/pages/170615i.aspx?

Heartworm transmission is expected to increase across the U.S. this year, a result of above-average precipitation and temperatures during