Headlines 2007
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
January, 2007
New life at animal shelters
Animal shelters are no longer the final stop for sick or injured strays that have a difficult time finding an adoptive home. As detailed in a recent article in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, more shelters are hiring veterinarians in the field of shelter medicine to give sick and injured animals a fighting chance – and to protect public health at the same time.
Getting a jump on arthritis
Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Comparative Orthopaedic Laboratory say their identification of telltale, genetic signs in dogs indicating the early onset of arthritis may one day lead to reversing the disease in humans. The researchers, including Dr. James Cook, a professor of veterinary medicine, say studying the genes found in dogs that are present when cartilage degradation has already started may pave the way for predicting the extent and severity of how the arthritis will develop in humans.
A new one-two punch against cancer
Auburn University veterinary researchers, including Dr. Bruce Smith of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Scott-Ritchey Research Center, are studying targeted gene therapy for lymphoma, a project that could significantly change treatment regimens for dogs and humans alike. The treatment consists of administering a genetically altered, non-replicating virus to lymphoma-infected dogs, followed by a drug that seeks out and kills the virus-infected cancer cells. Successful research at Auburn will pave the way for possible human clinical trials at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
A better way to keep pace
An improved way of placing pacemakers in dogs could one day mean better treatment for humans, thanks to research being conducted by Dr. Amara Estrada at the University of Florida’s Veterinary Medical Center. Dr. Estrada says the University of Florida’s study will be “slightly ahead” of what’s currently being performed clinically in human cardiology and may provide crucial information for human patients requiring pacing therapy.
February, 2007
A weapon in the fight against tuberculosis
The discovery of a unique copper-repressing protein in the bacterium that causes tuberculosis in humans may pave the way toward eradicating the disease. Dr. Adel Talaat of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine discovered the protein and says researchers may now be able to find ways to deactivate it, thereby neutralizing its defense mechanism against healthy human immune cells and stopping the spread of TB.
Finding a way to “whip” Crohn’s disease
A Michigan State University veterinarian is studying how the pig whipworm can benefit human patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Dr. Linda Mansfield, with the help of a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health, is conducting research to identify new molecules and compounds derived from the whipworm parasite that could be used as oral treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Mansfield has developed a mouse model of IBD that can be used to study the effects of different treatments. She and other MSU researchers are using an extensive database of known bacteria to determine the types of bacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract and how they might be treated.
Indiana welcomes radiation therapy facility for pets and people
The Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine is now home to Indiana’s first radiation therapy facility that will treat cancer in pets and help faculty members conduct research that will lead to better understanding, treatment and prevention of cancer in humans. Specific forms of cancer in pets, according to Purdue researchers, can very closely mimic the same forms of cancer in humans, making the Linda and William Fleischhauer Radiation Therapy Facility a valuable addition to the Purdue Comparative Oncology Program.
Public health news
Veterinarians and veterinary students are serving some of the poorest people in the nation by caring for animals and safeguarding public health on our nation’s reservations and in Appalachia. One such endeavor, the Navajo Nation Veterinary & Livestock Program, serves the Native American population in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, where veterinarians and their charges deworm and dehorn livestock, often times moving cattle through the use of Navajo commands. They also vaccinate, spay and neuter family pets, check deer meat for food safety and conduct disease surveillance. The program, which was recently profiled in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, serves the roughly 250,000 people living on Navajo Nation tribal lands and in bordering towns.
March, 2007
From the horse’s mouth
What do horses and humans have in common when it comes to eating too much and exercising too little? That’s one of the things two researchers at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine are trying to find out. Veterinarians Craig Thatcher and Scott Pleasant say human health may substantially benefit from their research if they can make a connection between obese horses and whether the animals suffer from chronic inflammation, much like obese humans do. If Drs. Thatcher and Pleasant can determine that obesity in horses causes inflammation, the possibility would exist for the horse to serve as an animal model for the study of obesity in people for the very first time.
A pepper for the pain
Dr. Dorothy Brown, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, is helping spice things up in an attempt to ease the pain in sick animals and humans alike. Brown is making such significant progress in managing pain in dogs stricken with cancer, that her study has captured the attention of the National Institutes of Health. Brown is studying the pain-killing effects of resiniferatoxin (RTX), a red-hot sap produced by a Moroccan cousin of the chili pepper plant. RTX, about 1,000 times stronger than the capsaicin found in chili peppers, helps kill nerve cells that transmit pain. Human testing of the chemical could begin soon, paving the way for what scientists hope will be an effective tool in managing pain for cancer patients.
Fixing lasers on cancer
A collaborative effort between the Center for Veterinary Health Sciences Laser Laboratory at Oklahoma State University and the University of Central Oklahoma Biomedical Physics Department may lead to advances in the treatment of certain cancers in both animals and humans. Researchers have combined three methods of treatment – laser photothermal interaction, photodynamic therapy and immunotherapy – to increase survival time, decrease a cancer’s spread and improve cure rates for prostate, breast and skin cancers. By combining the three techniques, the researchers expect a synergistic effect that will enhance tumor destruction by the laser therapy as well as the patient’s own immune system.
Public health news
Feeding pet miniature pigs table scraps and other food waste that may be contaminated or improperly cooked is one of several factors that could increase the risk of introducing or transmitting foreign animal diseases, according to a study published in the March 1 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. All swine, including miniature and potbellied pigs, are susceptible to many foreign animal diseases, according to the study’s authors. In fact, the feeding of contaminated food waste to swine has been associated with several outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), including the 2001 FMD outbreak in the United Kingdom. The historical role swine have played in outbreaks puts them at high risk for the introduction and transmission of FMD in the United States. FMD has not occurred recently in the United States, but the potential economic impact of an outbreak here has been estimated at between $6.8 billion and about $14 billion.
April, 2007
Stamping out the staying power of chronic wounds
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine are exploring ways to speed up healing in chronic wounds and thus shorten recovery times for patients with diabetes and limited mobility. If successful, the research findings will revolutionize how doctors manage hard-to-treat wounds such as foot ulcers and pressure sores, according to Dr. Christopher Murphy, a veterinary ophthalmologist and research team member.
Widening the avian influenza safety net
As further proof of how animal and human health are inextricably entwined, the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has been named a partner in a new National Institutes of Health surveillance and research center that will study influenza viruses with pandemic potential, including bird flu. Walter Boyce, a research veterinarian and director of the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center, will lead the university’s research efforts. This expansion of the federal government’s early detection program for influenza is designed to help reduce the chances of a deadly influenza outbreak around the world.
Stopping the march of white blood cells
Why do some people infected with Lyme disease develop painful arthritis and others don’t? Dr. Charles Brown, an associate professor of veterinary pathobiology at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, is getting closer to finding an answer and possibly stopping the arthritis from forming. Brown is focusing on chemical messengers called chemokines and how they attract white blood cells that fight off acute infections. The problem, Brown has so far determined, is that the white blood cells also damage healthy tissue in joint areas, leading to arthritis. If he can stop the white blood cells from getting to the site of the infection, Brown believes he may be able to stop the arthritis from forming.
May, 2007
The team approach to fighting cancer
Some of the brightest minds in veterinary and human medicine are teaming up in an unprecedented effort to cure cancer in dogs within the next 10 to 20 years – and possibly find common elements in preventing, treating and curing cancer in humans. Falling under the umbrella of the Morris Animal Foundation’s Canine Cancer Campaign, researchers and agencies around the country who specialize in human and animal cancer are working together to collect tumor samples, study the causes of the disease and, ultimately, find a cure. Discovering breakthroughs in childhood cancers is a particular focus of the consortium.
Long may they run
How do they do that? Dr. Erica McKenzie, a veterinarian and researcher at Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, is trying to figure out how sled dogs can run more than 1,000 miles in the Iditarod and still want more. She believes that finding out how the dogs maintain such a grueling pace over the nine-day race may one day benefit human endurance athletes.
A new tool against avian flu
Auburn University veterinary professor Dr. Haroldo Toro has developed the first egg-injected vaccine to protect chickens against highly pathogenic avian influenza, a deadly virus that has yet to appear in the United States but has decimated poultry flocks in Asia and killed nearly 200 people. The new treatment is expected to provide effective protection against any strain of avian influenza, and could reduce the risk for human exposure.
Shoring up the ranks
The safety of our nation’s food supply is at risk, and the number of students graduating from veterinary school is not enough to meet the demands of a growing population and the changing public health needs of society. Legislation before Congress, however, could help avoid severe shortages in the fields of public health veterinary medicine. As detailed in a recent article in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA), successful passage of the Veterinary Public Health Workforce Expansion Act could mean $1.5 billion in funding over a 10-year period that would create a federal grant program to bolster the number of food supply and public health veterinarians coming out of college. For a look at the article, go to http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/apr07/070401a.asp.
June, 2007
Do pets carry the “superbug”?
Could pets and their owners, particularly owners who work in human or animal health-care facilities, be sharing something dangerous? Dr. Stephanie Kottler and a team of researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine are investigating whether animals can harbor the “superbug” – or MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) – especially those animals living in the homes of health-care workers.
Avian virus enlisted in fight against prostate cancer
A virus often fatal to birds may help fight the ravages of prostate cancer. Drs. Elankurmaran Subbiah and Siba Samal of the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine are the first to use a genetically modified variant of the avian Newcastle disease virus to target and kill prostate cancer cells. Drs. Subbiah and Samal believe their approach to treating prostate cancer may pave the way for innovative treatment approaches for other types of cancer.
The ‘essentials’ of health
Just as their human owners use omega-3s and omega-6s for a healthier “me,” dogs with skin and coat problems can also benefit from having more essential fatty acids in their diet, according to a study appearing in the June 1 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Researchers are learning that what a dog looks like on the outside is likely an indication of what is going on in the inside, says Dr. John Bauer, a professor of clinical nutrition at Texas A&M University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Go to http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/pdf/10.2460/javma.230.11.1641 for a copy of the study.
July, 2007
Working to reduce those nasty side effects
Some of the most popular over-the-counter and prescription drugs come with some pretty heavy baggage. Researchers at Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, as part of a National Institutes of Health Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence grant, are looking at how nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories damage the stomach and intestine in order to help prevent harmful side effects, like ulcers. James Lillich, DVM, is leading research into how medicines – like buffered aspirin – damage the stomach and intestines and what can be done to reduce or prevent the damage in horses as well as people.
Something getting under your skin?
From cosmetics to flea control medications, human and animal skin is more than ever a canvas for all things topical. Americans are spending billions on balms, powders and medicines we apply, yet few have ever asked if all these things pose a health risk. That is, until now. Jim Riviere, DVM, PhD, and his colleagues at the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Chemical Toxicology Research and Pharmacokinetics, are trying to determine what effect chemicals in topical applications have on animals and humans.
You’ve got a friend in me
It appears lost animals have a friend out there; indeed many friends. While these good Samaritans are doing the animals a favor by trying to reunite them with their owners, they also are playing an important role in public health by removing strays from the streets so they don’t fall prey to getting or spreading disease. A first-of-its-kind study, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, shows people will go to great lengths to reunite a lost dog or cat with its owner. Many will even go one step further and adopt the animal if the owner is never found.
August, 2007
Poultry study shows promise in cancer fight
Chickens and humans have something in common, and the connection may one day lead to a cure for cancer. Dr. Shane Burgess of the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine has found that Marek’s disease, a form of cancer in chickens, is a unique natural model for Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans. Further poultry studies could show how Hodgkin’s disease-type lymphomas develop and what can be done to better diagnose and treat these cancers in humans.
In woodpeckers, the eyes have it
Have you ever wondered how a woodpecker can peck away violently at a tree and not injure its eyes? Dr. Christopher Murphy, an ophthalmologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, along with some colleagues from Canada, has some answers, and his findings are helping scientists better understand how trauma damages the eyes in humans. The woodpecker, Murphy has found, has protective mechanisms around the head and its eyes that help prevent injuries similar to those seen in infants with shaken baby syndrome.
Catching up to cancer in canines and kids
A study intended to help kids with cancer, may also save the life of a family pet. Veterinarians from Colorado State University, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Illinois and Ohio State University are attempting to determine a safe and effective dose of the drug rapamycin in dogs with osteosarcoma, the most common form of canine bone cancer and a disease that kills about 300 children a year. Osteosarcoma in dogs behaves very similarly to the disease in children, and veterinarians hope that new therapeutic approaches being developed to help dogs will soon be helping kids.
Bridging the gap between animal, human medicine
Animal and human doctors are joining forces to fight emerging infectious diseases at home and abroad. The American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Medical Association recently announced an unprecedented partnership to improve public health through the One Health Initiative proposed by Dr. Roger K. Mahr, AVMA immediate past president. Among other things, the One Health Initiative calls for more educational and research collaboration between the two professions to help with the assessment, treatment and prevention of cross-species disease transmission. The members of a One Health Initiative Task Force were announced at the AVMA’s Annual Convention in Washington, D.C., in July.
September, 2007
From small things … big things may come
From Lyme disease to Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia, the bite of a tiny tick can cause big problems for both animals and humans. That is why veterinarians at Kansas State University are tackling tick research in a serious way at their new Dryden-Merial Tick Research Center. The research conducted at the center, according to Dr. Ralph Richardson, dean of KSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine, puts the university at the forefront of learning more about tick lifecycles and the transmission of disease.
Eyeing a cure for glaucoma
First rats. Now dogs. Are humans next? Iowa State University researchers continue to make significant strides in developing a new technique to treat glaucoma. The research team, which includes veterinary ophthalmologist Sinisa Grozdanic, is now focusing its efforts on treating glaucoma in dogs after successfully treating the disease in rodents. If the canine patients do well, the next step is clinical human trials.
October, 2007
Fixing a hole
A little dog with a big problem may help advance reconstructive surgery in humans. Pez, a beagle being treated by veterinarians at North Carolina State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, has a hole in the roof of his mouth so large that it cannot be treated with conventional medical procedures. A team of experts, including Dr. Guillaume Chanoit, his veterinary colleagues and engineers from the university’s Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, are using 3-D models of Pez’s skull to create a titanium plate that will cover the hole and allow Pez to eat properly. The collaborative approach toward solving Pez’s problem may one day help oral surgeons develop new techniques to treat people with such conditions as cleft pallets, Chanoit says.
Doggedly fighting disease
A veterinarian’s interest in a debilitating disease that causes paralysis in dogs may lead to relief for both canines and humans. Dr. Richard Vulliet, from the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is investigating whether healing can take place in animals with degenerative myelopathy when they are injected with some of their own adult bone marrow stem cells. Vulliet and the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation, which is funding his research, say the study could offer hope to thousands of dogs who have degenerative myelopathy and may also lead to advancements in treating humans with ALS and multiple sclerosis.
Through the eyes of cats
Dr. Kristina Narfstrom hopes the animals in her life will one day bring the gift of sight to people, especially children. Narfstrom, a professor of veterinary ophthalmology at the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine, is working with Abyssinian cats that are genetically predisposed to retinitis pigmentosa to find ways to treat people with the disease, which affects 1 in 3,500 people worldwide. While she is pursuing treatments in numerous studies, Narfstrom says her research into gene replacement therapy is the most promising.
Petting zoo etiquette
A new study suggests that common sense often goes out the window when people visit petting zoos and don’t follow the warnings about possibly getting sick from having contact with the animals. The study appears in the Oct. 1, 2007, issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. The results indicate that many people ignore guidelines about how to avoid illnesses commonly associated with petting zoos – things like E. coli and Salmonella. They eat or drink in the animal areas, they touch their faces during their visit and they fail to sanitize their hands. All in all, the study’s authors said, the results are “disturbing.”
November, 2007
The cancer fight heats up
A professor at North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is turning up the heat on cancerous tumors in dogs in an effort to fight the disease in both animals and humans. Dr. Don Thrall is using high-intensity heat, along with conventional radiation, to treat dogs with naturally occurring tumors, which are better disease models than tumors created in the laboratory. If the therapy shows some benefit in animals, it likely will be successful in treating human cancers.
Putting the herpes virus to work
As they look for new gene therapies to advance cancer treatment, Dr. Konstantin Kousoulas and his colleagues at the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine have their sights on a herpes virus that may be able to fight breast cancer. Although herpes viruses get a bad rap because they cause embarrassing lesions like cold sores, they are proving beneficial in fighting other, more serious diseases. According to Kousoulas, the herpes virus engineered at LSU destroys cancer cells and has the potential to work as a vaccine to prevent cancer from spreading.
Sniffing out the dangers of black mold
Researchers at Michigan State University have determined that toxins in black mold can kill nerve cells in mice that are essential to the sense of smell. The findings, the first of their kind according to Dr. Jack Harkema, a professor in the university’s College of Veterinary Medicine, may help in detecting whether similar cell death occurs in humans exposed to toxic black mold. The mold can be found lurking in damp basements and behind the walls of flood-damaged homes. Toxic black mold has already been linked to dangerous respiratory conditions in humans. For more information on how black mold can affect pet health, go to the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association at http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/pdf/10.2460/javma.231.5.731.
Taking the bite out of rabies shots
Rabies vaccinations for people could be less painful and less expensive because of research being conducted by Dr. Zhen Fu and his colleagues at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Fu’s study focuses on developing a new rabies vaccine for both people and animals. He is working on a vaccine potent enough that people would need fewer than the five shots currently required for those bitten by rabid animals or animals suspected of being rabid. The vaccines would also be used in domestic and wild animals to protect them from rabies infection.
December, 2007
Dogs, humans have something in common
A collaborative effort between veterinarians and physicians has led to the discovery that benign mammary lesions in dogs and humans are similar in many ways, which could lead to a better understanding of breast cancer progression and prevention in people and pets. Led by Dr. Sulma Mohammed from the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, the study shows that dogs serve as an ideal model for studying the progression of breast cancer while it is still treatable. The ability to use the dog as a model for breast cancer will help researchers compare breast lesions that progress to cancer and those that do not, allowing for the customization of treatment and prevention strategies.
Taking a shot at neurological disease
The “unprecedented” improvements seen after a single injection of a beneficial gene into the diseased brain of a mouse may go a long way in treating a host of rare, but devastating, human neurological disorders, according to a team of scientists from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Veterinarian John Wolfe and other researchers succeeded in correcting diseased areas throughout a mouse’s brain by administering only one injection of gene therapy. If these results in animals can be realized in people, researchers may have found a method to treat mental retardation and other severe disabilities.
Helping the people of Iraq
It takes more than military might to rebuild a nation. Teams of civilian and military specialists are working with Iraqi leaders on a daily basis to meet the needs of citizens. Veterinarians are part of that group. As detailed in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, veterinarians are revitalizing the country’s agriculture, working with local producers to rebuild their feed mills and animal houses, and helping establish farmers markets that include veterinary clinics, greenhouses, butcher shops and food storage facilities.
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