Woman's Deadly Infection Linked to Horse Riding.

An elderly woman in Seattle died from an infection that she appears to have contracted from a horse she rode, according to a new report. The report is published in the Aug. 5 issue of the journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The 71-year-old woman had visited her daughter, who operates a horse boarding and riding center in King County, Washington. In the week of Feb. 21, 2016, one of the horses developed nasal and eye discharge, suggesting the animal had an infection. The daughter treated the horse with antibiotics, and the animal recovered. The daughter developed a mild sore throat and cough, that same week and her mother also showed symptoms of an upper respiratory infection. Both the mother and daughter had been in close contact with the horse, with the mother petting and riding the horse on at least two days, Feb. 25 and 29. A few weeks later, on March 2, the mother experienced vomiting and diarrhea, and was later found unconscious. She was taken to the hospital, but died on March 3. Officials collected a nasal swab from the previously sick horse, along with a swab of the daughter's throat and samples of the mother's blood. All three samples tested positive for the same strain of bacteria, called Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (or S. zooepidemicus for short.) This type of bacteria is known to infect animals, including horses, pigs and cats. It's rare that people get sick from S. zooepidemicus, but When infections in people do occur, they can cause a variety of symptoms, including chills, weakness, difficulty breathing, fever, kidney inflammation and arthritis. People can become infected with S. zooepidemicus by consuming unpasteurized dairy products, but the daughter said that she and her mother hadn't consumed any unpasteurized dairy products, nor did they have contact with other animals, except one healthy cat. The findings from this investigation linked a fatal S. zooepidemicus infection to close contact with an ill horse.The mother may have been at increased risk for infection because of her age. It also remains unclear if the woman's respiratory symptoms preceded or followed her infection with S. zooepidemicus. (It's possible that the respiratory symptoms were from a separate infection, which in turn could have made the woman more vulnerable to S. zooepidemicus, the report said.) Doctors always advocate that people thoroughly wash their hands after contact with horses or other animals.#hygiene #hand washing # #soap and #water. culled from Live Science.

A veterinarian on field trip!!!

Veterinarians and field trips, this was one of such days and guess how it all started, a calf came calling in the parking lot The field trip in pics,

Celebrating veterinary excellence.

The center of excellence,Lagos State Government recently appointed a veterinarian as the permanent secretary primary health care board,in the person of Dr. Olalekan Allison. 

The former director of veterinary services Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture has indeed broken a record as he is the first veterinarian to be appointed as permanent secretary.

 Celebrating veterinary excellence,join me!!! More

3D Printing and Music and heart project.

Polish DJ Piotr Bejnar is using 3D printed bracelets to capture fans heartbeats, and then using them as bass beats for his live set. The inspiration, explains Bejnar, came from working at a small venue. “There was this show with so little space on the stage that I had to play surrounded by the dancing crowd, ” says Bejnar. “I felt how their pulse affected the music I was playing, and then I thought to go even further. To create music together with the audience. Live.” Bejnar believes there is a musical instrument within all of us — the heart. He explored how to create music from this natural drum, and came up with the idea of using it as a bass beat for his live set by accelerating and slowing the rhythm. His experiment involved friends whose heartbeats he could add his own sounds to in order to create music. He said: “I only needed a technology which allowed me to play with the audience’s heartbeats during the concert in a club.” From this idea, Bejnar’s friend was able to create 3D printed bracelets which could measure people’s heartbeats and send the information wirelessly to the DJ’s console.continue

Animal Avengers Use 3D Printing to Save Victoria the Goose.

The Animal Avengers continue in their mission to preserve wildlife; Victoria the goose has a 3D printed beak so she can eat and drink again.In 2015, Victoria the goose was discovered on the São Paulo coast missing a large part of her beak. Unable to eat or drink, she was rushed to the nonprofit organisation, Friend of the Sea. Friends of the Sea, which cares for hundreds of marine animals every year, contacted a group called the Animal Avengers. The team comprises of four vets, a dental surgeon, and a 3D designer, who work on creating prosthesis for injured animals. ALL 3DP covered their exploits previously with Freddy the tortoise and Hanna the Labrador puppy. Victoria is the first goose in the world to receive a brand new 3D printed beak, and she is now expected to be able to lead a normal life.Continue

Drones and medical care.

A company called Vayu,has designed a drone to help bring medical care to remote places was successfully used to deliver clinical blood and stool samples from rural villages in Madagascar to a central laboratory for testing. There were numerous flights conducted to prove the viability of using the technology on a regular basis over hilly terrain. The Vayu drone takes off vertically, but flies horizontally, having combined characteristics of a quadcopter and a fixed wing airplane. It requires no runway and is designed to be fully autonomous once its destination is entered, landing on parking lots, roofs, and any other flat surface. It is capable of hauling 4.5 lbs (2 Kg) for approximately 40 miles (60 Km) and there’s already work underway to extend the range closer to 60 miles (100 Km). It was used to send samples to the clinic,but it can equally bring blood, drugs, and other light medical supplies on the return trip. continue

Yellow Fever Outbreak In Southern Africa.

Angola and neighboring countries in Southern Africa have been combating an outbreak of yellow fever while the U.S is dealing with Zika virus. Yellow fever was once the most feared epidemic in the world before mass vaccination campaigns were implemented in the mid-20th century. The disease is now taking a toll on a new generation in Southern African nations. Yellow fever is caused by an RNA Flavirus, the same genus that includes the Zika, dengue, and West Nile viruses. Transmission occurs from humans to humans and monkeys to humans by mosquitoes of the Aedes or species. Yellow fever has three transmission cycles. The jungle cycle occurs when mosquitoes transmit the virus from monkeys to humans who are working or visiting jungle areas. The intermediate or Savannah cycle in Africa occurs when mosquitoes transmit the virus from monkeys to humans or humans to humans living or working in areas bordering jungles. The urban cycle occurs when mosquitoes like Aedes aegypti transmit the virus between humans usually by a person infected in the jungle or Savannah setting who then carries the disease to an urban area. People infected with the yellow fever virus are asymptomatic. The incubation period is generally between 3 to 6 days. The symptoms include fever, chills, severe headache, back pain, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. About fifteen percent of cases will progress to a more severe second phase of the illness with symptoms including high fever, jaundice and bleeding. Death occurs from shock and failure of multiple organ systems. There is currently no treatment for yellow fever. Instead, symptoms are managed clinically under close observation. The epidemic was first detected again in the Angola’s capital city, Luanda, in late December of 2015 and the first cases were laboratory confirmed on January 19, 2016. As of July 15th, 2016, there have been 3,682 suspected cases reported in Angola, 877 of which are confirmed and 361 deaths from the disease. Suspected cases are widespread across the country, having been reported in 16 of the 18 Angola provinces. The outbreak has also erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a neighboring country of Angola, where there are 1,798 suspected cases and 85 reported deaths. Additionally, Kenya and China have reported traveled-related cases of yellow fever. The outbreak is of international concern because despite the vaccination of 15 million Angolans, local transmission is still occurring. Cross-border travel also poses a risk of further spread of the virus to other nations. There is also speculation about locally transmitted cases in hard to reach areas, such as the province of Cabinda. In Angola and the DRC, vaccination campaigns are underway to prevent the spread of this infectious disease, but a global vaccine shortage poses a life-threatening challenge to containing transmission of the virus. The current yellow fever outbreak, as with Zika and Ebola, underscores the need for global pandemic preparedness to both prevent and respond to the continuing threat of infectious diseases around the world.contributed by HuffingtonPost