JAVMA News
AVMA delegates unanimously passed two resolutions but engaged in extensive debate before defeating two others during a session in late July. And the AVMA president called for members to mend rifts dividing the profession, while the treasurer said that the AVMA is persevering despite difficulties of recent years.
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Letters to the Editor
See page 624
What Is Your Diagnosis?
See pages 629, 633
Pathology in Practice
See page 637
ECG of the Month
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public veterinary medicine: public health
Rabies surveillance in the United States during 2009
During 2009,49 states and Puerto Rico reported 6,690 rabid animals and 4 human rabies cases to the CDC, representing a 2.2% decrease from the 6,841 animals and 2 human cases reported in 2008. One of the human rabies cases represented the first presumptive abortive human rabies case, with the patient recovering after the onset of symptoms without intensive care.
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Plasma N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide concentration and outcome in cats with cardiomyopathy
See page 665
Effect of a synthetic appeasing pheromone on perioperative stress responses in dogs
Perioperative stress responses represent physiologic responses to surgery and associated factors that may be perceived as threatening by an animal. In a randomized, controlled trial involving 46 dogs undergoing elective neutering, intensive care unit cages were sprayed with a synthetic dog appeasing pheromone or a sham treatment and dogs were housed in the treated cages for 30 minutes before and after surgery. The pheromone treatment appeared to affect behavioral and neuroendocrine perioperative stress responses through modification of lactotropic axis activity. However, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal gland axis, immune system, and acute-phase responses appeared to be unaffected by the treatment.
See page 673
Globoid cell leukodystrophy (Krabbe disease) in working Australian Kelpies
See page 682
Removal of a foreign body from the trachea of a cat
See page 689
Immune-mediated pure red cell aplasia in a domestic ferret
An 8-month-old spayed female domestic ferret examined because of lethargy and severe anemia was found to have a PCV of 8%. Physical examination revealed severe pallor of the mucous membranes, nasal planum, and skin. Pure red cell aplasia was diagnosed following cytologic evaluation of a bone marrow biopsy specimen. Treatment included blood transfusions, IM administration of iron dextran, oral administration of antimicrobials and gastrointestinal tract protectants, and SC administration of erythropoietin. After the diagnosis of PRCA was made, prednisone, cyclosporine, and azathioprine were administered. Immunosuppressive treatment was discontinued after 14 months, and the ferret appeared to be healthy 36 months after initial examination.
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Characteristics of clinical trials assessing antimicrobial treatment of bovine respiratory disease
A systematic review of clinical trials assessing antimicrobial treatment of bovine respiratory disease in North American feedlots found that many studies did not report key study design features that would assist critical evaluation by readers. Twelve of 29 (41%) manuscripts did not disclose a funding source, and although 36 of 41 (88%) studies reported a random method of treatment allocation, only 9 (22%) described the method of allocation. Only 20 (49%) studies reported that investigators were blinded to treatment, and only 3 (7%) included a study size justification. In many instances, it was not clear whether the studies failed to use the investigated design features or simply failed to report them.
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