ANIMAL HEALTH DIAGNOSTIC CENTER SERVES AS ONLY TESTING GROUND FOR NEW & DEADLY DOG INFLUENZA VIRUS

Main Menu | News By Date | News By Supplier | News By Category | About Us

ANIMAL HEALTH DIAGNOSTIC CENTER SERVES AS ONLY TESTING GROUND FOR NEW & DEADLY DOG INFLUENZA VIRUS
01 March 2007 - Cornell University

Cornell University's Animal Health Diagnostic Center isolated a new and highly contagious canine influenza virus and serves as the only laboratory currently conducting routine tests for the virus for the general veterinary community.

Led by Dr. Edward Dubovi, director of the virology center at the Cornell lab, this effort began when an unusual illness began to appear in Florida greyhound kennels over the past 2-3 years. Ultimately, Cornell virologists working with the researchers at the University of Florida and the Centers for Disease Control determined that the dogs were stricken by a type of influenza that is ordinarily found only in horses. This was the first scientific report of an equine influenza virus that jumped the species barrier.

"From a public-health standpoint, it's always an alarming occurrence when a virus leaps to another species, particularly into a domesticated species, as this is generally a sign of the virus's strength and ability to adapt," says Dubovi.

While no known cases of human infection by this virus have been identified, Dubovi and his colleagues at the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine are keeping a close watch on this possibility and any signs that this virus may be harmful in any way to humans."

For dog owners, Dubovi offers this advice: "To the extent possible, dogs should be kept separated from those in other households, and a veterinarian should be consulted if a dog develops a cough or other evidence of respiratory disease. Until a reliable canine vaccine is available, veterinarians and dog owners will be working to contain the disease."

As his team works with others to learn more about the virus and to develop an effective vaccine, Dubovi sees a potential for this latest issue to help address a more fundamental research problem related animals and public health.

"As populations get denser and domestic animals mix with each other and with wildlife, we have to be aware that disease-causing agents can jump species," says Dubovi. "Therefore the way public health officials monitor the transmission of disease from one species to another must be re-examined closely."

Dubovi says that the current monitoring tactic is targeted surveillance or ruling out a specific disease in an afflicted animal rather than seeking out what the animal has. Dubovi sees the need to set up a surveillance system for companion animals so that "if there is a new and emerging disease coming out we can spot it … proactively."

Donald F. Smith, Cornell's Austin O. Hooey Dean of Veterinary Medicine agrees, "As the lives of animals and humans continue to converge, we need to develop more proactive public policies related to disease surveillance. This is especially true for those infectious agents for which there is a potential that there may be significant public health concerns. We're not just talking about the health of our beloved pets anymore."

http://www.cornell.edu

About: Cornell University
Once called "the first American university" by educational historian Frederick Rudolph, Cornell University represents a distinctive mix of eminent scholarship and democratic ideals. Adding practical subjects to the classics and admitting qualified students regardless of nationality, race, social circumstance, gender, or religion was quite a departure when Cornell was founded in 1865.

Today's Cornell reflects this heritage of egalitarian excellence. It is home to the nation's first colleges devoted to hotel administration, industrial and labor relations, and veterinary medicine. Both a private university and the land-grant institution of New York State, Cornell University is the most educationally diverse member of the Ivy League.

On the Ithaca campus alone nearly 20,000 students representing every state and 120 countries choose from among 4,000 courses in 11 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools. Many undergraduates participate in a wide range of interdisciplinary programs, play meaningful roles in original research, and study in Cornell programs in Washington, New York City, and the world over.

In his first inaugural address, at the Weill Cornell Medical College campus in Qatar in October 2004, Jeffrey Lehman, the first Cornell alumnus to become its president, articulated a vision projecting Cornell as "the transnational university of the future."

More News:
  • For March 2007
  • From Cornell University
  • For University