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Welcome to your next
issue of E-Source An
electronic newsletter highlighting veterinary issues for |
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June 10, 2005 Volume II, Number 34 |
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In This Issue · AHS Announces New Guidelines
Contact Us peter@isvma.org |
ISVMA Membership Renewal & Prospect Letters Sent
ISVMA member veterinarians should have received their membership renewal packets three weeks ago. If you have not received yours, please contact the ISVMA office at (217) 523-8387.
Yesterday,
membership information was mailed to all ISVMA prospective members. Every
licensed, practicing veterinarian in
If you have associates that did not receive a renewal letter, it could be they are not ISVMA members. If they haven't joined ISVMA, encourage them to do so by filling out the online application form at www.isvma.org/application.htm.
Would you like to know if one of your colleagues has become an ISVMA member? You can look up their membership status at www.isvma.org/findadoctor.htm.
ISVMA membership renewals are due July 1, 2005.
Confirmed Case of Rabbit Hemorrhagic
Disease (RHD) in
The following advisory was sent from the Office of the Board of Animal Health (BOAH) in Indiana. If you have questions you may contact Dr. Norman as indicated below. If you think that you may have a case of this disease contact the Illinois Department of Agriculture at 217-782-4944 (24/7). This is considered a Foreign Animal Disease and as such is reportable. The USDA web site referenced below is being updated and will contain the most current information.
CONTACT: Sandra K.L. Norman, DVM Companion Animal Division Director Indiana State Board of Animal Health phone: 317/227-0300; email: snorman@boah.in.gov VETERINARY ADVISORY (9 June 2005)—A case of rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) has been identified in domestic rabbits on a Vanderburgh County, Indiana farm. While highly infectious to domestic breeds, the virus is not known to harm humans, other animals or wild rabbit species, including American cottontail and jack rabbits. The Indiana State Board of Animal Health (BOAH) and USDA Veterinary Services are pursuing the source of infection as a foreign animal disease investigation. The ongoing investigation currently indicates that rabbits from the infected site were not sold into pet shop or exhibition circles. The animals were sold primarily as a food source for large snakes. While not yet confirmed, the epidemiology indicates the sick rabbits may have originated from a Kentucky flea market/swap meet. BOAH has been in contact with state and national rabbit industry representatives, as well as state 4-H. A press release has been issued to advise rabbit owners on clinical signs to be reported to their local veterinarian. You may receive inquiries or calls about sudden death in rabbits from your clients. Please take time to assess their situation to determine if the problem could be RHD, because high temperatures can cause heat-related deaths. The presence of clear or bloody, foamy discharge from body cavities is key to the differential. If you believe a client’s rabbit has died of RHD: 1. Encourage the owner to keep the carcass and other potentially infected animals on his/her site. This virus is highly resistant to physical and chemical agents and could be detrimental to your clinic environment. 2. Also advise the client to practice sound biosecurity and not risk exposure spreading the disease by other physical means (such as moving contaminated organic material, cages, bedding, etc.) 3. Contact BOAH (24 hours a day/7 days a week) at 877/877-3038 for assistance from a foreign animal disease diagnostician. Samples will be collected and submitted to the USDA laboratory. More information about RHD is available on the USDA website at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_ahrabbithd.html Future communication on the situation will be released, when warranted, by BOAH on their web site at: www.boah.in.gov click on Press Releases.
A cat which was reported in the
press as positive for rabies in Therefore, this specimen was sent
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the referral laboratory
for the state of A skunk tested positive for rabies
in Both LaSalle and Domestic animals bitten by a skunk
which cannot be tested should be assumed to have been exposed to rabies.
Veterinarians should work with their local animal control for proper
management of these exposed domestic animals. An exposure to rabies in a person
who has been pre-exposure vaccinated for rabies still means that the exposed
individual needs two rabies vaccination boosters for treatment after the
rabies exposure. Veterinarians and their staff should work with local health care providers (physician's) to obtain needed pre-exposure vaccination or booster vaccination for rabies. Local health care providers can order rabies vaccine for administration.
American Heartworm Society Announces New Guidelines BALTIMORE – ACVIM Forum – (June 2,
2005) – During the American College of
Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum (ACVIM), the American
“The goal
of our organization is to educate the veterinarian profession and our
membership,” says Charles Thomas Nelson, DVM and President of the American
Heartworm Society. “In this day and age, veterinarians continue their
education in so many ways, including on the Internet,” Nelson says. “Because
some veterinarians may only go to one, large multi-state meeting all year, we
needed to make sure the information is accessible to the entire profession,”
he added. “Each
year, dogs and cats die needlessly from complications to this very
preventable disease,” says Nelson. “These new guidelines are based upon the
latest, ongoing research conducted around the world,” he adds. The research
is done by several sources and the AHS compiles it to create the guidelines.
These sources include pharmaceutical companies, private laboratories and
practicing veterinarians and parasitologists at
several universities. The American
Heartworm Society wants veterinarians and pet owners to know the following: Annual Testing is Necessary In the
past, if a dog had been on preventive methods routinely, it was not necessary
to test every year, perhaps only every two to three years. But because of some concerns with breaks
regarding animals on preventives that still contracted heartworms,
the AHS recommends a more conservative testing routine. It may be too
difficult to document when an animal hasn’t been checked in three years, and
therefore annual testing will ensure that an infection is caught in plenty of
time to effectively manage it. Switching Prevention Methods
Requires Additional Testing Pet
owners sometimes switch between prevention medications, for any number of
reasons. In these instances, there are specific time periods to retest in
order to ensure the products have been effective. When switching from one product to another,
it is necessary to test more often. Year-Round Prevention is Supported Most
veterinarians recommend year-round heartworm prevention, even in seasonal areas. One reason for this is compliance – making
sure the medicine has been given properly by the pet owner. Surveys show that
probably only 75 percent of the doses that are prescribed are given. But, even
if doses are accidentally skipped, the drug is still beneficial to the pet.
If given consistently over a 12-month period, it’s possible to actually stop
worms from developing into adults.
Also, monthly heartworm preventives have activity against intestinal
parasites which inadvertently infect three to six million people every
year. These preventives protect pets
and people. Education is Key Getting
the word out to the entire profession and to the general public is a goal of
the American “We
wanted to make these guidelines available to everyone, so that the entire
veterinary profession and the pet-owning public will have access to
information based on research on the ways to diagnose, prevent and manage
this disease,” concludes Nelson. Mosquitoes
may keep biting, but the American Heartworm Society guidelines can help take
some of the sting out of heartworm disease. Founde
About the Photo in This Issue... The Burrowing Owl is a small ground-dwelling Owl
with a round head and no ear tufts. These small (8.5 – 11 inches) owls are comparatively
easy to see because they are often active in daylight, and are surprisingly
bold and approachable. The females are usually darker than the males. Burrowing Owls fly with irregular, jerky wing beats
and frequently make long glides, interspersed with rapid wing beats. They
hover during hunting and courtship, and may flap their wings asynchronously
(not up and down together). Burrowing Owls feed on a wide variety of prey,
changing food habits as location and time of year determine availability.
Large arthropods, mainly beetles and grasshoppers, comprise a large portion
of their diet. Small mammals, especially mice, rats, gophers, and ground
squirrels, are also important food items. Other prey animals include:
reptiles and amphibians, scorpions, young cottontail rabbits, bats, and
birds, such as sparrows and horned larks. These owls are quite versatile in
the ways they capture prey. They chase down grasshoppers and beetles on the
ground, use their talons to catch large insects in the air, or hover in
mid-air before swooping down on unsuspecting prey. They also watch from
perches and then glide silently toward their target. Burrowing Owls are
primarily active at dusk and dawn (crepuscular), but will hunt throughout a
24-hour period, especially when they have young to feed. The nesting season begins in late March or April.
Burrowing Owls are usually monogamous but occasionally a male will have 2
mates. Courtship displays include flashing white markings, cooing, bowing,
scratching and nipping. The male performs display flights, rising quickly to 100
feet, hovering for 5 to 10 seconds, then dropping 50
feet. This sequence is repeated many times. Circling flights also occur.
Burrowing Owls nest underground in abandoned burrows dug by mammals or if
soil conditions allow they will dig their own burrows. They will also use man
made nest boxes placed underground. They often line their nest with an
assortment of dry materials. Adults usually return to the same burrow or a nearby
area each year. One or more "satellite" burrows can usually be
found near the nest burrow, and are used by adult males during the nesting
period and by juvenile Owls for a few weeks after they emerge from the nest.
6 to 9 (sometimes up to 12) white eggs are laid a day apart, which are
incubated for 28-30 days by the female only. The male brings food to the
female during incubation, and stands guard near the burrow by day. The care
of the young while still in the nest is performed by the male. At 14 days,
the young may be seen roosting at the entrance to the burrow, waiting for the
adults to return with food. They leave the nest at about 44 days and begin
chasing living insects when 49-56 days old. Burrowing Owls are found in open, dry
grasslands, agricultural and range lands, and desert habitats often
associated with burrowing animals, particularly prairie dogs, ground
squirrels and badgers. They can also inhabit grass, forb,
and shrub stages of pinyon and ponderosa pine
habitats. They commonly perch on fence posts or on top of mounds outside the
burrow. Burrowing Owls have been reported to nest in
loose colonies. Such groupings may be a response to a local abundance of
burrows and food, or an adaptation for mutual defense. Colony members can
alert each other to the approach of predators and join in driving them off. Burrowing Owls are present in North America,
and breed across the grassland regions of southern Burrowing Owls are listed as endangered,
threatened, or a species of special concern in most states and provinces
where they occur. This photo was in Contact Us Please feel free to forward this issue of the E-SOURCE to veterinarians that are not receiving ISVMA’s electronic newsletter. Any ISVMA member may subscribe to the E-SOURCE for free: If you wish to add your name to the recipient list, send an e-mail to info@isvma.org and ask to receive the E-SOURCE newsletter. ISVMA values your membership and does not want to send you any unwanted email. If you would like to be removed from this member service, please email info@isvma.org
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