Dogg app connecting dog owners.

When SLOBBR co-founders Michelle Fournier and Jonathan Lagasse tell dog owners about their 5-month-old app, the response is usually "What took you guys so long?!" Only recently available nationwide (it originally launched in Boston and New York), the free app is part Foursquare, part Facebook, part Instagram and 100 percent pup-friendly. SLOBBR allows dog owners to connect with one another by posting cute photos of their four-legged pals and discover recommended dog parks, restaurants, products and stores based on their geolocation. There’s a feel-good component as well. For every check-in, SLOBBR donates half a cup of Halo kibble to a local animal shelter or rescue group. Shake Shack announced its SLOBBR support with a tweet promising a free Pooch-ini—a dessert consisting of dog biscuits, peanut butter and vanilla custard—to Bostonians who show their SLOBBR app to the cashier. Dog owners checking into Boston area Kimpton Hotels receive a welcome bag filled with a SLOBBR-branded travel mug, locally sourced dog treats and recommendations of where to take their canine while in town. Tito’s Vodka, which also runs the program. continue

Fowl pox .

Fowl pox is a diseases of economic importance in poultry because it causes drop in egg production and high mortality rate in layer flock.The disease is a slow-spreading one, characterized by the development of skin lesions on the unfeathered skin of the head, neck, legs and feet (dry pox). All ages are susceptible to fowl pox infection except recently hatched chicks, but the incidence is variable among flocks, dependent on management systems. In high-density, multiple-age farms, the disease may persist for long periods of time despite preventive vaccinations. The virus-containing crusts /scabs from skin lesions contaminate the environment and facilitate mechanical transmission of the virus between birds.The virus persists in the environment and may later infect susceptible birds by entering the skin through minor abrasions. In a contaminated house, the aerosol generated by feathers and dry scabs containing pox virus particles provide suitable conditions for both skin and respiratory infection. Inhalation or ingestion of virus, or virus-infected cells shed from skin lesions, can lead to the wet form of the disease. The wet pox lesions are associated with the upper digestive and respiratory tracts, especially the larynx and trachea and the Wet pox is the more serious form of the disease, with higher mortality in flocks. Wet pox alone cause high mortality of up to 50–60% in unvaccinated flocks. In layers, the disease causes a drop in egg production and reduces growth and development in young chicks and pullets. The infection spreads easily from bird to bird, cage to cage, and through ingestion of standing water in drinkers. Insects can serve as mechanical vectors of pox viruses, spreading infection by depositing virus in the eyes of birds or by biting birds. Fowl pox vaccine spilled inside the house during vaccination can produce pox lesions on exposed birds.The mucous membranes of the trachea and mouth are highly susceptible to the virus, and infection may occur in the absence of apparent injury or trauma. Clinical signs and lesions depend on the type of infection, in the dry pox there are Proliferative nodules on unfeathered skin areas of head, neck, legs and feet. Skin lesions vary in appearance, depending on the stage observed starting with papule, then vesicle, pustule and crust /scab at late stage. There is Cutaneous eye and mouth lesions which interfere with the bird’s ability to eat and drink. Birds are weak with reduced egg production with low mortality in uncomplicated cases. In the Wet Pox: Cankers yellowish lesions occur on mucous membranes of mouth, esophagus or trachea.Lesions in the nasal cavity or conjunctiva of eye lead to nasal or ocular discharge Reddened (hemorrhagic) tracheas. Lesions can interfere with eating, drinking and breathing; wet pox involving the trachea can result in high mortality due to impairment of breathing.Birds are unthrifty with reduced egg production. Mortality due to suffocation, starvation and dehydration. No treatment only prevention by vaccination,however management protocols such as these are important;1)Dust control. 2)Effective insect control programme. 3) Biosecurity programme to prevent movement of outside contaminated personnel and equipment from entering chicken houses. 4) Iodine disinfectant added to the water in the face of a fowl pox outbreak can reduce mortality and slowing the spread of the virus. The common practice on the farm is to isolate the birds with scabs,then cut pustule open and clean with iodine and apply gentian violet to cover it and birds are placed on a mixture of pox cure.

Hot weather has no link to salmonella in poultry farms.

The high rise in environmental temperature attributed to global warming has been linked to the spike in salmonella infection in poultry farms. The term that heat was the culprit for rise in cases took the responsibility off biosecurity breeches until a new research proved otherwise. Eggs and egg products have been associated with an increased risk of Salmonella contamination,mainly because of the preference of free range eggs by consumers has increased.Birds raised in the free range production system are exposed to weather extremes, because the free range environment is not as easily controlled as in cage .It was then assumed that hot weather had a role to play in the potential contamination of eggs at the site of free range egg production. The research conducted by the University of Adelaide shows there is no greater risk of Salmonella contamination in the production of free range eggs in Australia due to hot summer weather, compared with other seasons. Researchers at the University's School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences say that the hygiene around egg handling in the supply chain and in household and restaurant kitchens is critical to reducing food poisoning from eggs. Researchers conducted a study of four Australian commercial free range egg farms, with the results showing that the types and levels of Salmonella found in and around free range egg farms, and on the eggs themselves, is highly variable, often dependent on the specific husbandry and management practices employed by each farm.

Monkey consumption ‘a threat’ to mankind

Monkey consumption ‘a threat’ to mankind: The consumption of monkey meat could be threatening our existence, primatologist Cleve Hicks has warned.

Ostrich meat processor embraces new technology

Ostrich meat processor embraces new technology: One of the world’s largest ostrich meat processors, Klein Karoo, says a decision to launch industry-leading technology across its operations has brought “huge benefits” by simplifying traceability.

New Malaria Vaccine Shows Efficacy, Safety in Humans.

A new malaria vaccine has shown efficacy in humans, the next-generation vaccine uses a weakened form of a malaria parasite according to a new study published in Science Translational Medicine. Researchers of the vaccine called GAP3KO might have achieved a milestone in malaria vaccine development. The study, as reported in medicalnewstoday.com reveals that GAP3KO stimulated an effective immune response against the deadly malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, without causing any serious side effects. The researchers weakened P. falciparum by removing three genes that the parasite needs in order to enter the bloodstream, infect humans, and cause illness. The scientists in the study gave mice a rodent version of GAP3KO. They found that it protected against malaria infection when the mice were later exposed to an unmodified version of P. falciparum.continue

Researchers implant the first 3D-printed blood vessels into monkeys.

Scientists at Sichuan Revotek and the Regenerative Medicine Research Center of West China Hospital at Sichuan University have successfully embedded 3D-printed blood vessels into simian test subjects. The vessels, which are made of stem cell-based organic material, were a major breakthrough in vascular regeneration. the system uses “stem cell bioink, which was prepared from the autologous adipose mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) of the monkeys.” Essentially the material came from the monkeys themselves and were not subject to organ rejection. The process involves creating a 3D-printed scaffold of biological material that grafts to natural blood vessels and are virtually indistinguishable from the monkey’s natural organs. This means that real, usable organs and be printed and implanted in a few hours with minimum invasiveness.continue