The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : American Pit Bull Terrier The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : American Pit Bull Terrier
Showing posts with label American Pit Bull Terrier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American Pit Bull Terrier. Show all posts

Friday, May 1, 2015

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Four Colorado Residents Have Been Infected by a Dog Spread the Pneumonic Plague


A plague-infected dog spread the dangerous disease to four Colorado residents, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials told ABC News that this is the first report of a dog infecting a human with the plague in the U.S.

The dog, a 2-year-old American pit bull terrier, became sick last summer with a fever and jaw rigidity, among other symptoms. The dog's health declined so quickly that it was euthanized the following day at a local vet's office, health officials said.

Four days later, the dog's owner entered the hospital with a fever and a bloody cough that became worse over the next few hours, but an initial blood culture was misidentified, according to the CDC report.

As the patient's symptoms grew worse, the test was redone and he was found to have been infected with pneumonic plague, according to the CDC report. The remains of the dog were also tested and were found to be positive for the plague bacteria.

"Frankly one of the biggest surprises of this outbreak is the source," said John Douglas of Tri-County Health Department in Colorado, one of the study authors. "Primarily...dogs don’t get sick at all or they get a minor illness" after being infected with the plague.

Janine Runfola of the Tri-County Health Department in Colorado, lead author of the report, explained that cats are more likely to infect humans with the disease than dogs because they exhibit more symptoms.

"For pneumonic plague a more likely scenario would be you have a cat [play] with prairie dogs and infected fleas get on the cat," Runfola said. "The cat gets sick and sneezes and coughs on its owner."

The dog's owner remained hospitalized for 23 days as he recovered from the potentially deadly disease, the report said. In addition to the owner, a close contact of the owner and two veterinary employees who treated the dog or handled its body also became infected with the plague. All three were successfully treated with medication after exhibiting symptoms.

The plague is caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and can infect the body in different ways. For example, a flea bite can lead to infection of the glands, which is called bubonic plague -- notorious for the epidemics it spawned during the Middle Ages in Europe. Because this plague was spread from dog to owner through coughing, it developed into pneumonic plague, according to Douglas.

The plague is known to be endemic to prairie dogs in the American Southwest, which can then lead to isolated outbreaks of the disease in domestic animals or humans.

"Pneumonic plague is the worst form," said Douglas. "It’s the one that you least want to get. You get sick fast and the chances of getting a rocky or even fatal course" are increased.

The plague is incredibly rare in the U.S., with an estimated eight infections in the country reported every year. Douglas said pneumonic plague is even rarer and accounts for just 3 to 5 percent of plague cases.

Douglas said the case shows the importance of considering all the options when diagnosing a patient, even extremely rare options like the plague.
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Saturday, December 28, 2013

A Dog and Several Feral Cats Take Shelter in Local Nativity Scenes


Christmas nativity scenes in towns, churches, and front lawns usually contain a usual cast of plastic religious figures, Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus, of course, curled up in a manger. Perhaps the three wise men with their gifts, some shepherds, a couple of angels.

If any animals feature in the display, it is usually a donkey, an ox, some sheep, and maybe the wise men’s camels.

But a few animals are making headlines this Christmas week for adding themselves to their local nativity scenes.

Last Friday, in the small town of Glendale, Ohio, someone noticed something unusual in their village square nativity scene: curled up in the hay near Jesus and his manger was a white and brown American Pit Bull Terrier.

The Pittie was exhausted, injured, with wounds to his eye and one of his legs. Concerned about the dog’s condition, Glendale residents called town officials, who were able to secure the dog in one of their offices while searching for his owner.

Glendale village administrator Loretta Rokey borrowed a kennel from a friend. She tells FOX 19 she knew it was important to get the injured pup to a veterinarian immediately, so she took the dog to Noah’s Ark Animal Clinic for treatment. While the Pittie received the medical attention he needed, members of the nearby rescue group Cincinnati Pit Crew (CPC) joined Rokey at the clinic, ready to take the dog into their care.

CPC decided to give the dog a name befitting where he was found, Gabriel, after the angel who foretells Jesus’s birth.

“Tonight, our hearts are very full,” the CPC writes on their Facebook page. “Rescue isn’t easy work, but it’s always rewarding at the end of the day. Some very special people came upon this today and through networking with various rescues, CPC was able to help find a safe place for Gabriel and start the process of finding him a loving family.”

Because of the community’s efforts, Gabriel will now be able to enjoy the Christmas holiday at his new foster home. St. Francis of Assisi, both the patron saint of animals and the person credited with creating the very first nativity scene in the year 1223, would surely be delighted.

Meanwhile, two Brooklyn sisters are getting a kick out of some feline additions to their family nativity scene display.

Annette and Sue Amendola have been erecting their homemade nativity scene for more than a decade in a lot next door to their home. However, for the past few seasons, their display has became more of a “cativity” after a group of feral cats started nesting near the baby Jesus and his holy posse.

“People love it, but they really get a laugh out of the cats,” Sue Amendola tells DNAinfo New York of the nativity.

The kitties, including grey tabby cat Bandit, Bandit’s Sister, Blue Eyes, and four other unnamed cats, have set up shop in the small makeshift stable built by the Amendola sisters. The cats aren’t afraid to make themselves comfortable; in fact, Bandit has no qualms with pushing the plastic savior aside and napping on his hay bale manger.

People have flocked to the Amendola’s block to catch a glimpse of the Christmas kitties, noting that they could actually be enacting a certain Biblical feline folktale. Tabbies are said to have gotten the ‘M’ marking on their foreheads for lending new mother Mary a hand that cold night after Jesus’s birth. As the chilly winds blew into the small stable, the infant Jesus started to cry. When Mary called to the stable animals to help her warm the baby, it is said that a small tabby hopped into the manger, snuggling with little Jesus to keep him nice and toasty. Mary, grateful to the kind kitty, bestows her first initial, the letter ‘M’ on the cat’s small forehead as a token of her thanks.

And it seems the Amendola sisters try to pay it forward to their kitty nativity friends all year long. Even after the holidays are over and all the lights and ornaments are stocked away, they keep the wooden stable open for their feral friends, giving them a warm place to rest.

For more information about Gabriel, or to learn when the nativity Pittie will be available for adoption, visit the Cincinnati Pit Crew website http://www.cincinnatipitcrew.org/ and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/CincinnatiPitCrew.























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