Infectious disease
Category archives for Infectious disease
Raw milk. Raw deal?
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 18, 2012 This is the sixth of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Anna Lyons-Nace. Natural…unprocessed…raw. These terms are often used by consumers, nutritionists and health experts to denote the most healthful, high-quality food options available for consumption. However, when pertaining to the recent increasing trend in raw milk consumption, can consumers be confident that they are choosing the…
Spotlight on Nasty Parasites: Echinococcus granulosus
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 16, 2012 This is the fifth of 16 student posts, guest-authored by E. Jane Kelley. Did you know that some dogs might have a tapeworm in their small intestine that can cause the development of large cysts in people’s livers, lungs, and brains? This is not very common in the United States currently, though there are cases reported…
Things that want to eat your brain
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 15, 2012 This is the fourth of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Eric Wika. Let’s face it, it’s a dangerous world to be a brain. The brain is so soft and squishy it cannot even support its own weight. That’s right, even gravity itself is enough to take out an unprotected brain. Besides these passive threats, there are…
Atypical Typhus
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 15, 2012 This is the third of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Mary Egan. Murine typhus has been in the news recently in Austin, TX, where in May of this year, two people were found to be positive and one died. This rings a number of alarm bells for me, since I live in Texas, and specifically in…
What you don’t see can hurt your cat…and you too
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 14, 2012 This is the second of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Eileen Ball. The beauty of dogs and cats as companions is that we don’t have to raise them to go out into the world and be successful. As pet parents we can set the household “rules” according to what works for us and get on with…
Bugs in your berry juice
Posted by Tara C. Smith on June 14, 2012 This is the first of 16 student posts, guest-authored by Riva Ben-Ezra. Acai fruit comes from the Brazilian Amazon forests and is one of the main dietary staples of the native population. It has been touted as having potent antioxidant properties 1,2 as well as being a stimulant for weight loss3, a cancer cure and…
Waste not, want not? Poultry “feather meal” as another source of antibiotics in feed
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 5, 2012 The ecology of antibiotic resistance on farms is complicated. Animals receive antibiotic doses in their food and water, for reasons of growth promotion, disease prophylaxis, and treatment. Other chemicals in the environment, such as cleaning products or antimicrobial metals in the feed, may also act as drivers of antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic-resistant organisms may also be…
The emergence of “nodding disease”
Posted by Tara C. Smith on March 27, 2012 The emergence of “new” diseases is a complicated issue. “New” diseases often just means “new to biomedical science.” Viruses like Ebola and HIV were certainly circulating in Africa in animal reservoirs for decades, and probably millenia, before they came to the attention of physicians via human infections. Hantavirus in the American southwest has likely infected…
Great Plains Emerging Infectious Diseases Conference–Registration Open
Posted by Tara C. Smith on March 7, 2012 I mentioned last month that we are planning an Emerging Diseases conference here in April. Things are moving quickly and registration is now open (here). Abstract submission is also up and running here. The details: Oral and poster presentation research abstracts are due by 5:00pm on March 23, 2012. Individuals may submit up to two…
Holy influenza, batman!
Posted by Tara C. Smith on February 28, 2012 Typically when we think of flying things and influenza viruses, the first images that come to mind are wild waterfowl. Waterbirds are reservoirs for an enormous diversity of influenza viruses, and are the ultimate origin of all known flu viruses. In birds, the virus replicates in the intestinal tract, and can be spread to other…