VETERINARY MEDICINE: Dogs can be a potential risk for future influenza pandemic.

VETERINARY MEDICINE: Dogs can be a potential risk for future influenza pandemic. Dogs are a potential reservoir for a future influenza pandemic, according to a new study. The study demonstrated that influenza virus can jump from pigs into canines and that influenza is becoming increasingly diverse in canines. Influenza can jump among animal reservoirs where many different strains are located; these reservoirs serve as mixing bowls for the genetic diversity of strains. Pandemic influenza occurs when viruses jump from animal reservoirs to humans; with no prior exposure to the virus, most people do not have immunity to these viruses. The main animal hosts for influenza are wild birds, poultry and other domestic birds in a species pack; swine; and horses. Fifteen years ago, researchers documented an influenza virus in a horse jumping into a dog, and this created the first circulating canine influenza viruses. Five years ago, researchers identified an avian-origin H3N2 canine influenza virus circulating in farmed dogs in Guangdong, China.

Researchers have generated six Zika virus antibodies.

Researchers have generated six Zika virus antibodies.Researchers have generated six Zika virus antibodies that could be used to test for and possibly treat a mosquito-borne disease that has infected more than 1.5 million people worldwide. The antibodies "may have the dual utility as diagnostics capable of recognizing Zika virus subtypes and may be further developed to treat Zika virus infection," corresponding author Ravi Durvasula, MD, and colleagues report in a study published in the journal PLOS ONE. Zika is spread mainly by mosquitos. Most infected people experience no symptoms or mild symptoms such as a rash, mild fever and red eyes. But infection during pregnancy can cause miscarriages, stillbirths and severe birth defects such as microcephaly. Zika virus is a textbook example of an emerging disease that appears quickly, often in remote areas with little or no public health infrastructure. There is no effective vaccine or drug to treat the disease.

RESEARCH :Mosquito known to transmit malaria has been detected in Ethiopia for the first time.

RESEARCH :Mosquito known to transmit malaria has been detected in Ethiopia for the first time.A type of mosquito that transmits malaria has been detected in Ethiopia for the first time, and the discovery has implications for putting more people at risk for malaria in new regions. The mosquito, Anopheles stephensi, normally is found in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and China. Previous research shows that more than 68 percent of Ethiopia's population is at risk for malaria, with an average of 2.5 million cases reported annually, according to the World Malaria Report of 2017.

VETERINARY MEDICINE: Medical detection dogs help diabetes patients regulate insulin levels.

VETERINARY MEDICINE: Medical detection dogs help diabetes patients regulate insulin levels. New research by the University of Bristol in collaboration with Medical Detection Dogs has found that the best trained alert dogs have the potential to vastly improve the quality of life of people living with Type 1 diabetes. As reported in PLOS One, on average trained dogs alerted their owners to 83 per cent of hypoglycaemic episodes in over 4,000 hypo- and hyper-glycaemic episodes that were examined. A hypoglycaemic episode is where blood sugar drops dangerously low and if left untreated, can lead to unconsciousness or even death.

: Canine parvovirus .

Veterinary Medicine: Canine parvovirus very rampant and deadly.A University of Sydney study has found that canine parvovirus (CPV), a highly contagious and deadly disease that tragically kills puppies, is more prevalent than previously thought with 20,000 cases found in Australia each year, and nearly half of these cases result in death.


 This is the case in Nigeria too,where the scourge of the virus is very high. The study published in Transboundary and Emerging Disease, the national survey of 534 veterinary clinics investigated the number of cases of CPV, their geographic distribution, and financial impacts on pet owners.

 The survey revealed that CPV remains a major cause of disease in puppies and dogs across Australia, particularly in rural and remote areas of the country, despite improvements in vaccination technology over the last 40 years.

 CPV in dogs causes the destruction of the intestinal lining and villus atrophy, resulting in severe gastroenteritis, hemorrhagic diarrhea, vomiting and dehydration.

AGRIBUSINESS: PPR virus poses threat to conservation.