National Institutes of Health finding in 2013 presaged Wellcome Foundation decision to close the Sanger Institute genetically modified mouse lab by 2022 WASHINGTON D.C. (March 2013)–– Bluntly stated the headline in the February 11, 2013 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “Genomic responses in mouse models poorly mimic human inflammatory diseases.” Echoing […]
Federal shutdown helps disease race from gamecocks to egg barns
Deadly exotic Newcastle outbreaks were all but ignored even before U.S. President Donald Trump furloughed most of the government personnel who could have responded RIVERSIDE, California–– Pleading for urgent attention to the recent spread of exotic Newcastle disease from southern California cockfighting flocks to commercial egg barns, Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) moderator […]
The gift of reindeer dwarfs the value of Christmas
Reindeer stand between us & the next Great Flood Admit it: you did not think about reindeer even once between the last Christmas season and this one. Even when you last did think of reindeer, you thought about them in association with Santa Claus. You probably never thought of reindeer as defenders of the Far […]
Disease linked to cockfighting menaces California poultry industry
Gamecocks carrying Newcastle disease to domestic flocks killed millions in 1971 and 2003 LOS ANGELES––The billion-dollar-a-year California poultry industry is betting the farm that state and federal authorities can get a two-year series of outbreaks of Newcastle disease under control before it becomes the biggest threat to profits in decades. An outbreak discovered in […]
Death of Florida 6-year-old reminds that bat rabies can strike anywhere
Humans & bats evolved to live in frequent proximity, yet rarely meet. That keeps us both safe. ORLANDO, Florida––The January 14, 2018 death of Ryker Roque, 6, at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, just 20 minutes from Disney World and half an hour from Walt Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom, came as […]
Hunting, controlled burns & brain rot
Prescribed cure may accelerate the spread of a deadly disease If a contagious and deadly brain rot spread by deer and elk threatens people who eat venison, can controlled burns that boost deer, elk and moose populations slow the spread of the illness? The controlled burn prescription, advanced by Colorado State University immunologist Mark […]
Reindeer are the presents for remote Yamal herders
Gift reindeer may help for a while, but global warming dooms the herding way of life YAMAL PENINSULA, Siberia––Reindeer did not deliver presents to 45 families of herders on the remote Yamal Peninsula of Siberia at Christmas Eve 2016, but rather were the presents. The reindeer were sent to help the Yamalo-Nenets residents recover […]
Jack Woodall, 81, the James Bond of animal/human disease prevention
Cofounder of ProMED-mail LONDON, U.K.––Jack Woodall, 81, perhaps the most influential person in the animal welfare field whose name almost no one involved in animal welfare recognized, whose work helped to save countless human and animal lives, died on October 24, 2016 in London, England, where he was under treatment for pancreatic cancer. Cofounder […]
How BAWA beat the dog-cullers in one Bali banjar
GIANYAR, Bali, Indonesia––The Bali Animal Welfare Association on July 3, 2014 claimed a small victory for vaccinating dogs against rabies and educating the public in Singapadu Tengah village, Gianyar regency, Bali. Responding to a June 26, 2014 directive from Bali governor Made Mangku Pastika, public officials “were scheduled to eliminate stray dogs in the […]
Threat to dogs from newly discovered rabies strain?
TAIPEI, Taiwan––Can dogs incubate and transmit Taiwan ferret badger rabies? Would a mutant form of ferret badger rabies specific to dogs have the exceptionally long latency time that it apparently has in ferret badgers? If so, this could exponentially increase the threat of rabies from dogs. Any mammal may become infected with rabies, […]