A team of Oklahoma State University (OSU) veterinarians, virologists and pathologists at the Oklahoma Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (OADDL) recently published a paper in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology on their findings from a Canine parvovirus (CPV) study. Led by Dr. Sanjay Kapil, the group is the first to describe the CPV type 2c variant in the United States.

“We were quite fortunate to discover this variant,” explains Kapil. “It has been known for six years in Italy but nobody paid attention to it here until we found it last year.”

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 Written by Emily Caldwell
Ohio State University

Homeowners dogged by household fleas need look no farther than the broom closet to solve their problem. Scientists have determined that vacuuming kills fleas in all stages of their lives, with an average of 96 percent success in adult fleas and 100 percent destruction of younger fleas.

In fact, the results were so surprisingly definitive that the lead scientist, an Ohio State University insect specialist, repeated the experiments several times to be sure the findings were correct. The studies were conducted on the cat flea, or Ctenocephalides felis, the most common type of flea plaguing companion animals and humans.

The lead researcher also examined vacuum bags for toxicity and exposed fleas to churning air in separate tests to further explore potential causes of flea death. He and a colleague believed that the damaging effects of the brushes, fans and powerful air currents in vacuum cleaners combine to kill the fleas. The study used a single model of an upright vacuum, but researchers don't think the vacuum design has much bearing on the results.

"No matter what vacuum a flea gets sucked into, it's probably a one-way trip," said Glen Needham, associate professor of entomology at Ohio State and a co-author of the study.

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MONROVIA - Foothills residents are being warned about a spreading outbreak of deadly distemper discovered in gray foxes that could infect unvaccinated pet dogs.

Signs of the disease first popped up in July in Monrovia. Since then, however, the outbreak has spread west into Sierra Madre and La Ca ada Flintridge, with suspected cases also discovered in Arcadia, Pasadena, Glendale and, most recently, Tujunga.

Outbreak sickening O.C. dogs

Orange County Animal Care Services has seen 51 dogs suffering from the disease since the beginning of August; usually, it would expect to see fewer than 10 in that time span. Most of the sick dogs brought to its shelter died of the disease or were euthanized, in part to keep them from infecting other dogs there, spokesman Ryan Drabek said.

“For us, this is a significant increase” in parvo cases, said Jennifer Phillips, the director of Animal Care Services.

The virus has hit Santa Ana especially hard; the city's animal-services agency has diagnosed 19 cases in the past four weeks. But county officials say the number of parvo cases seems to have increased throughout central Orange County, with many of the cases coming from poorer neighborhoods.

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...Tens of thousands of dogs have been chipped, she said, and veterinary pathologists haven't reported outbreaks of related sarcomas in the area of the neck, where canine implants are often done. (Published reports detailing malignant tumors in two chipped dogs turned up in AP's four-month examination of research on chips and health. In one dog, the researchers said cancer appeared linked to the presence of the embedded chip; in the other, the cancer's cause was uncertain.)

It was a great day in the Antelope Valley as club members met for handlng class and rally practice.  The sun was shining brighly as members worked their Labradors.  Donations brought $100 to the club for an AED.  Members had so much fun that they stayed well after 12 noon.  Thanks goes to Nancy Talbott and Dave Valantine for teaching these classes.

Club Secretary:Veronica Karr

By Molly R. Okeon Staff Writer - Whittier Daily News

"On July 25, a local veterinarian reported a cluster of respiratory diseases in about 20 dogs, according to a "local outbreak" alert on the Los Angeles County Public Health Department's Web site.

This dog flu first appeared after being passed to racing greyhounds from horses in Florida in 2004, according to the alert. The disease broke out in California in fall 2005.

Canine influenza symptoms are cough, runny nose, fever and pneumonia and can often be mistaken for "kennel cough," county officials said."

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