Blood investigation in a fatality involving the veterinary drug T-61.
(9/125)
A case involving an acute fatality resulting from self-administration of about 30 mL of T-61, a euthanasia solution, consisting of a mixture of embutramide, mebezonium, and tetracaine, in a 58-year-old veterinarian is presented. Forensic investigations consisted of an external body examination, during which 5 mL of fluorinated femoral blood was collected. Embutramide and tetracaine were quantitated using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry after extraction with chloroform/isopropanol/n-heptane (50:17:33, v/v) at pH 9.5 and separation on an HP5-MS capillary column. Mebezonium was quantitated using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry after ion-pair extraction (saturated KI solution) with methylene chloride at pH 5.4 and separation on a 5-mm Nucleosil C18 column. Blood concentrations were 43.0, 6.5, and 0.21 mg/L for embutramide, mebezonium, and tetracaine, respectively. No other drugs, including ethanol, were detected. (+info)
Employer and new graduate satisfaction with new graduate performance in the workplace within the first year following convocation from the Ontario Veterinary College.
(10/125)
Mailed questionnaires administered to employers of graduates and to graduates of the Ontario Veterinary College in 2000 and 2001, 7 to 10 months after convocation, surveyed new graduate performance in the workplace. Proficiency at 9 species-specific (in 4 practice contexts) and 7 nonspecies-specific clinical activities were rated as "high," "some," or "low." Fifteen nonvocation-specific attributes, reflecting interpersonal, communication, and business skills, and the new graduate's competence to do his/her job were rated as "very good," "good," or "poor." Ninety or more percent of employers reported "high" to "some" proficiency in 8/9, 5/9, 3/9, and 1/9 activities relative to small animal, food animal, equine, and exotic animal practice, respectively, and in 5/7 nonspecies-specific clinical activities. Ninety or more percent of employers assessed workplace proficiency as "very good" to "good" in 13/15 nonvocation-specific work skills and overall competence to do the job for which the new graduate had been hired. (+info)
Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection among veterinary staff in Ontario, Canada (2002): implications for teratogenic risk.
(11/125)
BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii infection is embryotoxic in humans. It is mainly transmitted through raw/undercooked meat and ingestion of oocysts in cat feces. There remains controversy about the actual risk of cats transmitting the disease to humans. Our primary objective was to determine the seroprevalence of T. gondii antibody among veterinary staff, to ascertain whether they have an increased risk through occupational exposure. Our secondary objective was to examine their practices regarding cats, toxoplasma infection, and pregnancy. METHODS: Veterinary staff attending the 2002 Annual Ontario Veterinary Medical Association Conference were invited to discuss their toxoplasma seroprevalence. Interested attendees completed a questionnaire and a physician drew blood samples to determine T. gondii titres using the ELISA IgG test. RESULTS: We collected 161 completed questionnaires, and 141 blood samples. There were 20 (14.2%, CI 95%:8.4-19.9%) reactive titres among the veterinarian staff (80% females aged 30-45). All were regularly exposed to cats, washed their hands when in contact and few wore gloves routinely. CONCLUSIONS: These findings of low positive rates may be used to reassure veterinary staff that their exposure to cats does not appear to increase their risk of contracting toxoplasma infection and that pregnant women are not at an increased risk by owning a cat. (+info)
Does the Animal Welfare Act apply to free-ranging animals?
(12/125)
Despite the long-standing role that institutional animal care and use committees (IACUCs) have played in reviewing and approving studies at academic institutions, compliance with the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) is not always complete for government natural resource agencies that use free-ranging animals in research and management studies. Even at universities, IACUCs face uncertainties about what activities are covered and about how to judge proposed research on free-ranging animals. One reason for much of the confusion is the AWA vaguely worded exemption for "field studies." In particular, fish are problematic because of the AWA exclusion of poikilothermic animals. However, most university IACUCs review studies on all animals, and the Interagency Research Animal Committee (IRAC) has published the "IRAC Principles," which extend coverage to all vertebrates used by federal researchers. Despite this extended coverage, many scientists working on wild animals continue to view compliance with the AWA with little enthusiasm. IACUCs, IACUC veterinarians, wildlife veterinarians, and fish and wildlife biologists must learn to work together to comply with the law and to protect the privilege of using free-ranging animals in research. (+info)
Sir William MacGregor Henderson 17 July 1913 - 29 November 2000.
(13/125)
W. M. 'Gregor' Henderson belonged to the great tradition of veterinary involvement in the control of epizootic diseases that was such a feature of the middle part of the twentieth century. He was one of the pioneers of research into the virology of foot-and-mouth disease and the development and application in the field of vaccines to control it. THroughout his career, first as scientists, latterly as administrator, he maintained a close interest in the animals to whose wellbeing research was directed and in the work of the practising veterinary surgeons who ultimately translated veterinary science into veterinary practice. (+info)
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in horses and horse personnel, 2000-2002.
(14/125)
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection was identified in 2 horses treated at a veterinary hospital in 2000, prompting a study of colonization rates of horses and associated persons. Seventy-nine horses and 27 persons colonized or infected with MRSA were identified from October 2000 to November 2002; most isolations occurred in a 3-month period in 2002. Twenty-seven (34%) of the equine isolates were from the veterinary hospital, while 41 (51%) were from 1 thoroughbred farm in Ontario. Seventeen (63%) of 27 human isolates were from the veterinary hospital, and 8 (30%) were from the thoroughbred farm. Thirteen (16%) horses and 1 (4%) person were clinically infected. Ninety-six percent of equine and 93% of human isolates were subtypes of Canadian epidemic MRSA-5, spa type 7 and possessed SCCmecIV. All tested isolates from clinical infections were negative for the Panton-Valentine leukocidin genes. Equine MRSA infection may be an important emerging zoonotic and veterinary disease. (+info)
Enrichment and nonhuman primates: "first, do no harm".
(15/125)
Since the 1998 publication of The Psychological Well-Being of Nonhuman Primates by the National Research Council, and the 1991 implementation of the 1985 Animal Welfare Act Amendment, many formal and informal nonhuman primate enrichment programs have been put into practice. Reports of their successes and failures, however, are few. All programs have at least two things in common: (1) They are best when designed and maintained by teams of individuals with species-specific expertise; (2) the members of those teams, the stakeholders, usually include principal investigators, animal care and use committee members, veterinarians, and animal care staff. Discussions in this article address general principles about enrichment, goals of such programs from the perspective of each of the major stakeholders, and recently published sources of related information. These discussions follow the central premise that enrichment should benefit all involved and "First, do no harm." (+info)
Sero-positivity of brucellosis in human beings.
(16/125)
Two hundred and fifty human serum samples were collected (122 from general population and the rest from people associated with animals) from central Kerala and tested for Brucella agglutinins using various standard tests. The overall seropositivity for brucellosis using all the tests was 1.6%. Among the general population a prevalence of 2.45% was observed and among the veterinary students 1.14%. (+info)