One Health

17 November

Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Heath professor named to National Academy of Medicine

wsvma   |   One Health

PULLMAN, Wash. – M. Kariuki Njenga, a Washington State University professor in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health and a leader in the effort to address emerging zoonotic diseases, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine. Njenga, a professor of virology and global health, is the country director for WSU Global Health-Kenya. He is based in Kenya on the health sciences campus of the University of Nairobi. A member of Allen School faculty since...

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17 November

Nov 13 – 19, 2017 is Antibiotic Awareness Week

wsvma   |   One Health

U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (formerly “Get Smart About Antibiotics Week”) is an annual one-week observance to raise awareness of the threat of antibiotic resistance and the importance of appropriate antibiotic prescribing and use. Washington Governor Inslee has issued a proclamation declaring Nov 13-17, 2017 Antibiotic Awareness Week. Each year in the United States, at least two million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die as a direct result of these infections. Many more...

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20 October

Looking to adopt a rescue dog or cat? Check the paperwork

wsvma   |   One Health

Many people, moved by the magnitude of dogs and cats made homeless by hurricanes Harvey and Irma, may be considering adopting a rescue pet impacted by the storms. As a veterinarian and dog and cat owner, I can appreciate and support this. Washington has the reputation of welcoming pets facing hardships. I also know that animals need medical attention such as health exams and vaccinations for rabies, heartworm and other maladies that can spread to other dogs and cats they mingle with...

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06 October

World Rabies Day 2017 may have passed, but the important work continues

wsvma   |   One Health

Working with African governments and building on international and local partnerships, Washington State University’s Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health is developing the next strategies for the elimination of rabies as a human health threat. In 2017 WSU and partners in the Serengeti Health Initiative have administered approximately 50,000 vaccines in East Africa and project to provide more than 120,000 by the end of the year. Since the inception of the project in 2003, Allen School researchers have administered...

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22 September

World Rabies Day

wsvma   |   One Health

At Washington State University, scientists in the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health are working toward an ambitious goal: no human rabies deaths by 2030. On September 28, World Rabies Day, they and global partners across the world will come together to raise awareness for the deadliest zoonotic disease on the planet. “Eliminating human deaths due to rabies, 99 percent of which are due to bites from rabid dogs, is for the first time in history within our...

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02 June

Human Salmonella infections linked to live poultry in backyard flocks

wsvma   |   One Health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), many state departments of health and agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service are investigating eight multistate outbreaks of human Salmonella infections linked to contact with live poultry in backyard flocks. These outbreaks are caused by several kinds of Salmonella bacteria including Salmonella Braenderup, Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Hadar, Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i-, Salmonella Indiana, Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Mbandaka, and Salmonella Typhimurium. As of May 25, 2017, 372 people infected...

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02 June

Rulemaking changes to Notifiable Conditions under consideration

wsvma   |   One Health

The Washington State Board of Health is considering amendments to Chapter 246-101 WAC, Notifiable Conditions. Under consideration is adding notification and specimen submission requirements for new conditions and conditions currently identified as "other rare diseases of public health significance.” These include the following: New Conditions: Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (E. coli, Klebsiella species, and Enterobacter species) Coccidioidomycosis Zika MERS and other severe communicable coronavirus infections Hantaviral infections (Andes virus, Bayou virus, Black Creek Canal virus, Dobrava-Belgrade virus, Haantan virus, Seoul virus, Sin nombre virus) Rickettsia prowazekii, Rickettsia typhi (typhus), and...

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19 May

Not for the good of society

wsvma   |   One Health

I overheard a doctor in one of our clinics one day tell a client she wouldn’t prescribe antibiotics without a diagnosis, “for society’s sake, because we don’t want resistance.” My first thought was: “Yaassssss!” and my second thought, upon seeing the client’s face, was: “couldn’t care less.” I get it. It’s hard to change your perspective, let alone your behavior, just for the good of society. We don’t always act differently even when we know it’s the right thing to do, unless...

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12 May

Rabies rule amendment hearing June 14

wsvma   |   One Health

The State Board of Health will hold a public hearing on June 14, 2017, to consider updates to WAC 246-100-197, Rabies -- Measures to prevent human disease. The State Board of Health is proposing to amend the rule to incorporate the most current science related to rabies post-exposure practice and quarantine periods, and update the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians Compendium of Animal Rabies Prevention and Control adoption by reference date for procedures related to emergency sheltering of...

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24 February

Important notice: Seoul Virus outbreak in pet rats and humans

wsvma   |   One Health, Uncategorized

As of February 22nd, 2017 no human or rodent cases of Seoul hantavirus have been confirmed in Washington State.  During late December 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was notified about a patient in Wisconsin who presented to a hospital earlier that month with fever, headaches, leukopenia, transaminitis, and mild proteinuria. Hantavirus infection was suspected because the patient breeds and sells Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) primarily for pets and to a lesser extent for feeding to carnivores (snakes)....

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