Therapy Lasers for Horses: Another Tool in the Toolbox?October 8, 2014When Randall Brandon, DVM, was using laser therapy to treat a sore back in steeplechase racing champ Sunshine Numbers in 2011, he decided to also work the laser on the horse’s neck. After a while, Dr. Brandon moved the laser back to the horse’s back. The horse immediately let him know what he wanted. “He backed up and stuck his neck right in my face,” said Brandon, owner of Equine Diagnostics in Sumter, South Carolina. Sunshine Numbers, the son of Polish Numbers, went on to win the Carolina Cup that year. Brandon uses laser therapy on a variety of horses, but especially on athletes. “They get really sore in their necks,” Brandon said. “This is unbelievable for them.” Depending on size of an affected area, Brandon could use as few as 2,500 joules of output, or for an area as large as 2-feet by 1-foot he might use up to 20,000 joules and take 40 minutes or longer to work the area. It’s the ability to generate such focused power that has made lasers more useful and the clinical results more apparent in the last few years, and it was the lack of power that helped perpetuate a healthy skepticism …
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Zoetis Releases Johne’s Disease Assay KitSeptember 25, 2014A new test for Johne’s disease, a deadly infection of cattle, is available for sale to veterinarians and farmers, Zoetis Inc. reported today. The test, SERELISA ParaTB Ab Mono Indirect, is designed to detect Mycobacterium avium antibodies in cattle serum and plasma in less than 75 minutes. Johne’s disease, also known as paratuberculosis, can cost U.S. cattle producers hundreds of millions of dollars a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Infected cattle are doomed to death once clinical signs such as diarrhea and weight loss appear. Cattle may be vaccinated against Johne’s disease, but no cure is available. Paratuberculosis is contagious and may spread throughout a herd when an infected animal is introduced. Infected cattle may appear healthy for months or years before symptoms begin to appear, Zoetis noted. “Calves are most susceptible to Johne’s disease and producers want to help protect them,” said Matthew Krecic, DVM, MS, MBA, Dipl. ACVIM. “Producers often wait to add newly purchased cattle to the herd until certain the animals are free from the disease,” said Dr. Krecic, the senior technical services manager of U.S. Diagnostics for Zoetis. The SERELISA assay kit features 90 percent …
Straight from the Horse's Mouth: Antibiotics, Antifungals, AntiviralsSeptember 23, 2014 When it comes to antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals, there are lots of do's, don’ts, misinformation and misunderstanding, veterinary experts say. “Veterinarians should be aware that just because a pharmacokinetic study of a new drug has been performed in horses doesn’t mean that enough information now exists to use that drug,” said Virginia R. Fajt, DVM, Ph.D., a clinical associate professor of Veterinary Physiology and Pharmacology at Texas A&M University. While pharmacokinetic data are important for understanding how horses dispose of a drug, the data must either already exist or be generated to understand how concentrations of drugs in horses relate to effects of the drug, Dr. Fajt cautioned. “This is particularly important when it comes to antimicrobial and antifungal drugs, because their efficacy will depend on how much drug it takes to inhibit the growth of these pathogens, and the inhibitory concentrations may be different for horse pathogens than pathogens from other species of animals,” Fajt said. Consider This An added consideration to take into account when prescribing drugs is what the practitioner wants from drugs, said Jennifer L. Davis, DVM, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ACVCP. “Horse owners want a drug that is …
Merck Awards $5,000 Student ScholarshipsSeptember 18, 2014 Fifteen veterinary students with a strong interest in dairy or beef medicine each received a $5,000 scholarship from Merck Animal Health. The annual Bovine Veterinary Student Recognition Awards were announced today on the first day of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners conference in Albuquerque, N.M. “The contributions that large animal veterinarians make to our world are immeasurable,” said Norman Stewart, DVM, livestock technical services manager with Summit, N.J.-based Merck, a manufacturer of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and other products. “They help keep our animals healthy and our food safe and affordable.” The scholarships and a free trip to the conference went to: Chelsea Allan (Ontario Veterinary College) Benjamin Baird (Washington State University) Lindsey Borst (University of Minnesota) Julie Conner (University of California, Davis) J.D. Folsom (Oklahoma State University) Jacob Hagenmaier (Kansas State University) Jennifer R. Holle (University of Wisconsin) Daniel J. Lopez (Cornell University) Lee Michels (University of Minnesota) Halley Oliveira (Cornell University) Emily K. Severt (Ohio State University) McKenzie Steger (Iowa State University) Peter A. Strassburg (University of Wisconsin) Holt Tripp (Oklahoma State University) Ashley Zondlak (Michigan State University) The scholarship recipients must be in their third or fourth year of …
UC Davis Solves Bluetongue MysterySeptember 16, 2014 The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which isolated and identified bluetongue virus in the Western Hemisphere in the 1950s, has discovered how the ruminant disease manages to withstand the winter cold and reappear the next spring. The virus reproduces in female biting midges, the insect long known to transmit the disease, according to University of California, Davis, researchers. Their study, published Sept. 12 in the online journal PLOS ONE, for the first time explains why bluetongue returns years after year and why more animals could become infected during global climate change. “This discovery has important ramifications for predicting the occurrence of bluetongue in livestock and, we hope, for eventually developing controls for the disease,” said UC Davis professor and co-author James MacLachlan, DVM, Ph.D. Bluetongue virus is noncontagious and sometimes fatal. It mainly infects sheep, producing lesions on the lips and gums, but cattle and goats may be stricken as well. Bluetongue refers to the swollen lips and tongue of affected sheep, which may turn blue in the late stages of the disease, UC Davis reported. The cost to the U.S. sheep and cattle industries is estimated at $125 million a …
EMS: Another Case for Diet and Exercise in EquinesSeptember 11, 2014 Veterinary experts say it’s best to avoid any temptations to take an easy road to a cure when dealing with equine metabolic syndrome. “Dietary restriction and exercise are certainly the preferred and ideal treatments for EMS, and the use of pharmaceutical agents to avoid these hard management changes is not recommended,” said Rose Nolen-Walston, DVM, assistant professor of Large-Animal Internal Medicine at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa. Dr. Nolen-Walston stressed the importance of exercise in dealing with EMS. “Exercise can be as simple as pasture turnout if grass consumption can be limited, especially in a herd of horses including some youngsters who keep the herd active,” Nolen-Walston said. “Additionally, gradual increases of ridden, driven or longeing work should be added as appropriate for the horse if no laminitis signs are present. Swimming is ideal but not available to most owners, and so the goal of slow, steady exercise is usually the best way to go when trying to reduce weight and improve insulin sensitivity.” Describing the disease and the number of ways it can affect patients is a starting point for Nicholas Frank, DVM, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVIM. “EMS is …
Zoetis Releases PEDv Vaccine to Veterinary MarketSeptember 3, 2014 A second vaccine formulated to fight porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDv), a disease that has killed millions of U.S. piglets, has been awarded a conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The manufacturer, Zoetis Inc., reported today that the two-dose inactivated vaccine was licensed for use in healthy pregnant pigs and will be sold to veterinarians and pig farmers beginning this month. The vaccine generates antibodies that female pigs transmit to their newborns, the Florham Park, N.J., drug maker stated. First diagnosed in the United States in April 2013, PEDv has spread to 30 states and has killed more than 7 million piglets. Spread through feces, the disease causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, and it carries a mortality rate of up to 100 percent of infected young pigs. “Rapidly emerging infectious diseases such as PEDv not only threaten animal health but also the livelihoods of farmers,” said Catherine Knupp, DVM, MS, executive vice president and president of Zoetis Research and Development. Harrisvaccines’ PEDv vaccine beat Zoetis’ formulation by more than a year. A vaccine called iPED was introduced in August 2013 under a USDA emergency program, and Harrisvaccines’ renamed Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea …
Virus Hits Livestock Hard in Colorado, TexasAugust 15, 2014 Vesicular stomatitis, a contagious but rarely fatal livestock disease, has been diagnosed at nearly 190 locations across Colorado and Texas since the viral outbreak began in late May. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Wednesday that 76 new premises, or locations, have been identified since Aug. 6. The new cases involved 105 horses, five head of cattle and three previously disease-free counties. Two of the newly infected counties, Broomfield and Jefferson, are in Colorado, while the other is Williamson County, Texas. “Veterinarians have been very observant and diligent to report horses and other livestock that are suspicious of being infected,” said the Colorado state veterinarian, Keith Roehr, DVM. Livestock owners outside of Colorado and Texas should take precautions, said Elizabeth Davis, DVM, Ph.D., Dipl. ACVIM, a director of equine medicine and surgery at Kansas State University. “It’s an interesting disease because it does have pretty significant clinical signs,” Dr. Davis said. “Most commonly, it causes painful oral blisters in horses that can affect the mouth, muzzle and tongue. Additional signs may include lesions on the udder and/or around the top of the hoof where it meets the hairline. “Vesicular stomatitis also …
iCVI iPad App Growing In PopularityAugust 13, 2014 Back in June, the iCVI iPad was launched. It was developed by the The Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases (IIAD), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Center of Excellence, in partnership with the Texas Center for Applied Technology (TCAT) part of the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. The app, according to the IIAD press release, is a mobile Certificate of Veterinary Inspection (CVI) application, “which support[s] veterinary practitioners submitting animal health certificate records from the field.” According to the app’s description: “Veterinarians will find this tool valuable for generating Certificates of Veterinary Inspection for submission to state veterinary offices.” itunes/apple The iCVI app on iTunes is free. The features of the app, according to the app page, include: Offline/Online CVI creation CVI filtering Submission to state vet. offices via emailed PDF Offline/Online printing Import of animal data from CSV Multiple animal management conveniences Attachment of pictures “This new technology will help streamline the work flow for our veterinarians in the field,” said Bill Brown, DVM, Kansas animal health commissioner, in the IIAD press release. “We want to make sure that tools are …
Vets Stay Legal With Signing of Drug Mobility ActAugust 4, 2014 President Obama on Friday signed into law the Veterinary Medicine Mobility Act, which permits practitioners to legally transport and dispense controlled drugs away from their registered offices and across state lines. The legislation, HR 1528, was introduced more than 15 months ago by the only veterinarians serving in Congress: Reps. Kurt Schrader, DVM, an Oregon Democrat, and Ted Yoho, DVM, a Florida Republican. “This bill will not only benefit all who practice large animal veterinary medicine but the farmers and ranchers who rely on them,” Dr. Yoho said. “This law will allow veterinarians to practice their profession without fear of unnecessary government intrusion.” The law permits what the Drug Enforcement Administration in recent years had considered a violation of the Controlled Substances Act—the administration of drugs by mobile, rural and wildlife veterinarians away from the practitioner’s registered workplace. DEA sent warning letters to some veterinarians, but no one was ever charged, the American Veterinary Medical Association reported. AVMA’s new president, Ted Cohn, DVM, thanked Obama and Congress for “allowing us complete access to the medications we need to fulfill our oath to society.” “The health and welfare of our nation’s wildlife, food …
