StemCell Therapy

One of the most common COVID-19 tests involves a long swab pressed deep into the nasal cavities and while the test can be administered quickly, it has been described as unpleasant and uncomfortable.

Now researchers at The Ohio State University are working on a testing system that would require a simple exhaled breath. Perena Gouma is the primary investigator of a team developing a breathalyzer device that will sample breath for key biomarkers of the infection. She says it would serve as an alternative to current tests that are expensive, can take a long time to get results and require specialized personnel to do the sampling and to analyze the results.

Gouma, director of the Advanced Ceramics Research Laboratory and professor in the College of Engineering, is working with co-investigator Andrew Bowman, associate professor of veterinary preventive medicine. The project was awarded a nearly $200,000 National Science Foundation EAGER grant this month under a program supporting exploratory, early-stage research on untested, but potentially transformative, ideas or approaches.

Breath analysis is not really a technique that is used widely in the medical field yet, so it is considered early-stage work, Gouma said. [We] have a sensor device that detects nitric oxide and VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in breath and can be used to tell you about the onset of an infectious disease.

In addition to nitric oxide, the device examines two other metabolites that could specifically indicate the presence of a COVID-19 infection even in asymptomatic patients. Exhaling once in the breathalyzer may help with earlier detection of the onset of the disease, as well as with monitoring of the severity of the infection, which could help reduce the risk for worsening of the symptoms and allow timely therapeutic intervention, she said.

The new project builds upon Goumas invention of a hand-held breathmonitor that may provide early detection of flu before symptoms appearprior to her arrival at Ohio State. The COVID-19 breathalyzer involves advances on nanomaterials for detecting specific breath gases at the concentrations of interest for making a diagnosis.

The breathalyzer gives results rapidly (15 seconds response time), it is extremely inexpensive, and it is easy to use so that there is no need for trained personnel to perform the test, Gouma said. The results can be viewed directly on the display or they can be transferred to the physician wirelessly.

We are working on making these hand-held monitors that will be widely distributed and theyre very inexpensive, she said. The technology evolved from the sensors used for monitoring gases in an automotive exhaust thats how we started on breath analysis 20 years ago.

Gouma said the NSF-funded project would not have been possible without the collaboration with the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Medicine and the Wexner Medical Center. She said these connections make Ohio State very appealing for interdisciplinary research between engineering and medicine (nanomedicine).

Thats one of the advantages of Ohio State. You dont find many institutions that have the No. 1 vet med school in the world and also a world-class medical school, she said. Its also serendipity because COVID-19 is a zoonosis, a disease that comes from animals, and the vet med school had years of experience studying coronaviruses and the flu in animals.

Furthermore, the Wexner Medical Center has been treating COVID-19 patients from the beginning of the pandemic, so it offers unique insights to this project.

Gouma said the collaboration is critical for engineers developing medical diagnostics for humans and animals who need to consult with colleagues who have expertise in medicine to ensure that the ideas have merit and to validate their claims through clinical trials.

If the device proves to be accurate, portable and effective, it could be used to screen travelers before they step on a flight or to test students and teachers before they head back into the classroom. It would also be used in the Medical Intensive Care Units and in every hospital and doctors office as a bedside test. Gouma said the breathalyzer technology may become the platform to help detect metabolic problems like cancer, Alzheimers disease or diabetes, by choosing the appropriate biomarker

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Ohio State researchers testing breathalyzer to detect COVID-19 - The Ohio State University News

Should people be wary when cats jump into their laps? Is it okay to pet someones dog passing by on the street? Are veterinarians in danger during checkups?

Since March, a team of Tufts researchers has tested hundreds of animals looking for clues on whether they can get the virus and pass it along to humans, or vice versa, in the Coronavirus Epidemiological Research and Surveillance (CoVERS) study.

We know this virus came out of the animal population, so theres some reason to believe this could affect other animals, said Dr. Jonathan Runstadler, professor of infectious diseases and global health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts. We know there are sporadic reports of transmission from humans to pets.

The risk of the virus spreading in the other direction, from animals to humans, is considered to be low, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website.

A German shepherd from New York became the first dog to test positive for the virus in the country, the US Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday. Several cats have tested positive since late April.

Out of the nearly 400 animals the Tufts team has sampled, none have tested positive.

Along with common domestic animals, the Tufts team has tested pigs, bats, horses, and exotic animals, according to Runstadler.

The lack of positive tests was expected, Runstadler said, but its no reason for the team to stop the research any time soon.

[The pandemic] is an active outbreak, and with viral outbreaks, things can change, he said.

To test animals, the team uses materials similar to those in a human test kit. The researchers assemble kits themselves, including swabs, media, and molecular reagents.

In the first phase of the study, animal owners who have volunteered get their animals tested at the lab or gather nasal and mouth swabs from their pets at home and submit them.

The best outcome would be that we dont see infections in animals, and that we see that trend continue over time, and that its not a risk, Runstadler said.

The second phase of the study focuses on pets owned by people who have the virus or are at higher risk of having the virus due to contact with someone who was infected. Researchers are looking for the rare circumstances in which a human may have transmitted the virus to an animal, or the even rarer circumstance in which the animal transmits the virus to a human, Runstadler said.

Researchers are particularly interested in these circumstances for future reference, Runstadler said.

When the next pandemic occurs, the Tufts researchers want scientists to have a solid understanding of animal transmission to be better prepared.

We expect that events like this epidemic will happen again, Runstadler said.

The research will end, he said, when the coronavirus pandemic is over.

Matt Berg can be reached at matthew.berg@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @mattberg33.

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Does Fido have coronavirus? Tufts researchers are testing hundreds of animals to find out - The Boston Globe

As people begin to go back to work and offices as well as venture out of the house more frequently, their pets might experience some separation anxiety after all this extra time at home. Experts offer advice on how to best prepare your pets for more time alone.

As the state reopens and more people return to their jobs, offices and some pre-coronavirus routines, local veterinarians expect their phone lines to get a bit busier.

And not just because pet owners feel more comfortable bringing in their furry friends for minor or preventative procedures.

Separation anxiety is an issue many pet owners will deal with the next few months as people begin to leave their homes more frequently and for longer periods, said Dr. Robert Knapp, of Knapp Veterinary Hospital in Clintonville.

There are a whole bunch of animals out there that will be learning a new normal, Knapp said.

From getting walked every few hours to snuggling on the couch during Netflix binges to showing off during Zoom meetings, pets received a huge boost in quality time during the early stages of the pandemic. That will undoubtedly change, now, no matter what a familys new normal is.

While people who recently added a pet to their families stay-at-home orders produced an uptick in dog adoptions might have more difficulties, those who had pets before COVID-19 could still see problems, especially if those animals have a history of anxiety.

If your dog has historically been crated, youve got to get him back in the crate, Knapp said. He probably hasnt been in a crate for six or eight weeks.

Knapp and other animal experts said there are a number of things pet owners, whether new or seasoned, can do to ease their pets transition.

To help, Dr. M. Leanne Lilly and her office at the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center, where she works as an instructor and practitioner in behavioral medicine, created a flier when the pandemic first hit Ohio titled Mitigating separation-related behaviors when youre home now, but wont always be.

Roughly half of all dogs experience separation-related behaviors, Lilly said. Some are predisposed to it because of breed or have an increased risk if they came from a shelter.

Behaviors, such as a dog always following its owner to the bathroom or whining when alone in a room, might signal that the pet will experience separation anxiety. But its always best to prepare for the possibility during a transition like this, Lilly said.

The first step is to start leaving the house around a typical time for short periods get the dog used to hearing the garage door open or keys jingle. Then pay close attention to how the dog acts.

Spending time separated from your dog is really important for you and your dog so they can learn that being home alone is normal, Lilly said. If you leave really delicious food out for them and they wont eat it until you come home, then you know theyre in distress. Or if they have excessive panting or whining when you leave or come home.

Most dogs exhibit excited behavior when their owners return, but the intensity (knocking over furniture) and duration (cant calm down for 35 minutes) can be concerning.

They were really worried you werent ever coming home, Lilly said.

More obvious signs of anxiety include urination, defecation, piles of drool or destruction.

However, Knapp said to not hesitate to reach out to veterinarians at the earliest signs before your favorite shoes get chewed up.

Knapp recommends going through morning routines several weeks in advance. Instead of leaving, though, sit on the couch.

All the things that wind a dog up to say, Oh youre leaving me, and then you do things like sit down and give them a treat and they think, Oh, theyre not leaving me, Knapp said.

Walking the dog predeparture can release any pent-up energy, but ensure theres enough time for the pooch to calm down before leaving.

Now is the best time to reach out to veterinarians for advice on whether medications, supplements or calming pheromones might be necessary, Knapp said. They can make other individualized recommendations, too, such as playing classical music.

This is on our radar, Knapp said. All veterinarians are aware that as we go back to work, getting pets acclimated is something were going to have to help with.

New dog owner Carol Schwiebert knows there will be an adjustment period as she and her husband, Adam, both head back to work in the next month, leaving their 1-year-old Labrador mix, Austin, at home. The Hilliard couple adopted him in March.

Its such a big shock as hes used to being around us 24/7, Schwiebert said.

She feels better knowing she can watch Austin on the pet camera they were gifted (cameras can be a beneficial in diagnosis and treatment, experts said) and will be able to spot any early signs of distress. Theyre ready to put him in a crate hes trained if necessary.

Plus, she plans to walk Austin on lunch breaks.

We probably should avoid doing communal lunches (at work), she said, citing coronavirus concerns. A quick bite and walk outside the office seems like a good idea.

Other experts think the workplace could actually continue to evolve to the benefit of pets.

Steven Feldman, executive director of the Human Animal Bond Research Institute in Washington, D.C., said he believes more people will have the flexibility to work from home and more businesses might welcome pets as the workplace continues to morph.

Weve had this wonderful experience with our pets being with us, why not take them to work with you? Feldman said. Weve seen a real trend toward a pet-friendly workplace and I think well continue to see a trend to more work-life balance where we work and that will be a lasting effect of the pandemic.

award@dispatch.com

@AllisonAWard

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Animal experts offer tips to ward off pet stress as owners head back to work - The Columbus Dispatch

People whove encountered swimmer Raena Eldridge, the 2020 Arthur Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year, say she is thoughtful, compassionate, goal-driven and interested in making a positive impact in the world.

From the first time she arrived at Texas A&M University after graduating from Rockwall High School in 2015, Eldridge wanted to exceed expectations. Whether it was engaging in community service beyond what was asked of her or picking demanding courses and adding a second major, she never backed down.

The daughter of Eric and Wendy Eldridge was an eight-time state medalist for Rockwall High School in swimming and was the 2012 state champion in the 50-meter freestyle. She was also a National Merit Scholar and graduated seventh in her class.

It helped that I was very interested in the subjects, and when youre interested in something its so much easier to do, says Eldridge, 23. Also, A&M athletics brings resources to us. They have study halls, computer lab study rooms and tutors available all the resources you need to succeed.

My teammates were also pursuing pretty intense majors, like engineering or other STEM majors, and when youre surrounded by a team thats pursuing excellence in everything that they do, its pretty easy to hop on board and do the same. My teammates were my best study buddies.

Chris Barttelbort, assistant athletic director, academic services, says Eldridge made it clear early on that she wanted to pursue graduate school after earning her bachelors degree. Barttelbort also serves as Eldridges scholastic supervisor. Having spent five years at Texas A&M because of a torn ACL her freshman year, Eldridge had the time to focus on what science-related field that would be, ultimately deciding on veterinary school.

With only 33 veterinary schools in the country, admissions are highly competitive, but Eldridge received five acceptances and will be attending North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (ranked fourth in the nation).

She recognized that she was going to need other things beside grades and test scores on her resume to differentiate herself from other candidates, Barttelbort says. We have a lot of community service you can do through the athletic department, but she also brought things outside of that.

Eldridge started her own non-profit organization, SPLASH, Inc., which gives free swimming lessons to low income kids, and she also participates in a faith-based organization, Save Our Streets Ministry, where she mentors elementary schoolgirls. Shes taken on leadership roles within the athletic department, including being a team captain for the swim team the last two years.

In the pool, Eldridge hit her stride these past two years, qualifying for the NCAA championships in individual events for the first time this year. She received multiple Southeastern Conference and all-America honors.

She received Texas A&Ms Bill Erwin Scholar Athlete of the Year Award in 2019, given for the highest level of academics and athletics balanced by any female athlete on campus.

Shes very driven, very determined and very loyal, says Tanica Jamison, associate head coach of swimming and diving. Shes always been someone that her teammates could count on.

If there was anything the head coach or I challenged her with, she always welcomed those challenges and was open to our suggestions on how to improve, she adds. Shes someone that will listen, someone whos confident in who she is, someone whos willing to help others.

Humble, Eldridge thanks the coaching staff for seeing her potential, when she was concerned whether she could measure up to Texas A&Ms fast times. I improved every year because of [head coach] Steve Bultmans training and his ability to see in me more than I was able to see in myself, she says.

Her results in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle at the 2019 Phillips 66 National Championships earned her a spot in the Olympic trials, but with the Olympics postponed to 2021, she has announced her retirement from swimming.

Growing up participating in club swimming, Eldridge saw the sport as individualistic. The universitys swim program emphasized teamwork and that gave her not only best friends, but a sense of unity. Representing her university also pushed Eldridge to excel.

To know that everything I do is going to represent the school as a whole, gave me purpose, drive and the sense of doing something bigger than just me and my own accomplishments, she says. If I was doing everything for myself to improve my chances for [vet school] it would have been a lot less meaningful. Having this team, having the training and the competitions, it gave me the meaning that I needed. Through that, Ive learned so much that prepares me for vet school: discipline, work ethic, leadership, compassion. It taught me things I needed that I dont think I would have gotten elsewhere.

The Arthur Ashe Jr. award is named for the tennis champion, who was known for his love of tennis and commitment to education. He died in 1993.

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RHS graduate named Ashe Jr. Female Sports Scholar of the Year - Rockwall County Herald Banner

To the UC Davis Community:

Our Community Moment of Silence three days ago was just the beginning. Renetta Garrison Tull asked us to take a stand against racism. Kayton Carter implored us to go beyond the moment. I encouraged us to work together to effect change. And we are.

Renetta Garrison Tull is our vice chancellor of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, which organized Tuesday afternoons moment of silence for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Californias own Stephon Clark, Floridas Tony McDade and many others. Kayton Carter is the executive director of Student Affairs Retention Initiatives and the director of the Center for African Diaspora Student Success.

We livestreamed the program (see the video recording at the top of this page) and kept it small, by necessity, with just three people speaking from Mrak Hall: Vice Chancellor Tull, Director Carter and me. As Vice Chancellor Tull noted: We are not hiding the fact that were African Americans standing here, coming in during a pandemic the people around us all have masks but we needed to say something.

We are not the only ones speaking out about the killing of black men and women, including George Floyd, who died May 25 while in the custody of Minneapolis police. Over the last two weeks, we have seen statements of outrage from all corners of the university, including heartfelt messages from deans, coaches and the police chief.

See ally letters and links here.

Vice Chancellor Tull recounted a conversation with her mother and brother and other family members over Zoom last Friday. We talked about the times when weve been stopped by police for no reason, she said. I remember this happening as a child, sitting in the car with my father, so this is not new.

Director Carter offered a list of incidents dating back almost 100 years to the Black Wall Street Massacre in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where a black shoemaker was accused of assaulting a woman, and it led to the deaths of some 300 people and the destruction of an entire black community. (A state commission in 2001 concluded the shoemaker had most likely tripped and accidentally stepped on the womans foot.)

Director Carter also noted the deaths of Abner Louima and Amadou Diallo, while Vice Chancellor Tull added the names of Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin. Too many to name, she said. We are in the midst of a pandemic, where more than 100,000 people have died of COVID-19, and even in the midst of that, we must take some time to acknowledge the reality of racism and unjust deaths of black lives, which is centuries old.

I read parts of the statement I put out last week, with some additions. I work in the ivory tower of academia, but I live in the real world. Im constantly reminded of that fact: driving while black, shopping while black, cooking out while black, exercising while black. It is exhausting. And Im tired.

George Floyd could have been any African American man, including me. At a traffic stop, no one knows I am a chancellor. No one knows I have a Ph.D.

I am a lifelong educator, a black man whose parents endured segregation personally. Ive spent much of my career working to increase diversity on college campuses and in the workforce. I think a lot about how America has not made as much progress as we often claim. Recent events have only reaffirmed the need to build an inclusive society that recognizes and respects people of all backgrounds and experiences.

But inclusion like social justice doesnt come easily. It requires collective effort. It requires each one of us working to make a difference, whether thats through getting involved in your community, peaceful protesting or doing what you can to change procedures that reflect bias. And dont forget to vote.

As Director Carter said, we must go beyond the moment. He challenged the UC Davis community: In the spaces where there are no African diaspora people, if you experience and witness racism, take a stand.

Vice Chancellor Tull agreed: This doesnt stop here. Just because we had this moment this afternoon and weve taken time to affirm black lives, to address and call out injustice, we have to keep going and we have to make sure that we do more.

The School of Law wasted no time holding a forum the day after the Community Moment of Silence, drawing almost 170 people for an online discussion of next steps. Among them, as announced by Dean Kevin Johnson: a King Hall speakers series on racial justice. This is an issue we should address day in and day out, not just [when something happens], he said.

In closing Tuesdays program of remembrance, Vice Chancellor Tull said: It may take us to stand up, to be an upstander, to actually intervene, and well have workshops for that. In the meanwhile, we also know that we have to take time to heal. And, so, we thank you, and again we ask you to remember, to think, to read, to listen, reflect, learn, plan and act, recognizing that black lives do indeed matter and that we are all going to go forward together.

See Resources for Racial Trauma, compiled by the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This page will be updated with programs and other events, as well as new resources and other information.

On top of the pandemic, the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing national protests have only added to students stress and anxiety as the quarter comes to an end. In response, the Academic Senate this week authorized faculty to offer students the alternative of receiving spring quarter grades based on work completed by the last day of instruction (June 4), provided that instructors also administer their scheduled final exams to the students who want the tests. Many students rely on finals to improve their course grades.

As we informed students in a letter yesterday, it is the instructors decision whether they want to make their final optional. If the instructor determines that a final is required, we encouraged them to consider accommodations on a case-by-case basis and let students know how to make such requests, because some students may not feel empowered to initiate these conversations. We also asked faculty to consider approving requests for incompletes, giving students additional time to complete coursework or to achieve research or project milestones.

This change in final exam policy expanded the senates earlier actions to provide flexibilities for students around choosing the grading options Passed/Not Passed (for undergraduates) and Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (for graduate students). The senate also extended the deadline for students to select the course grading mode to the last day of instruction. Although this deadline has now passed, students can later petition the Grade Change Committee to modify their grading mode for a course retroactively (for example, change a passing letter grade to a P after the term is over). Although we cannot guarantee that the committee will approve all petitions, we fully anticipate that they will take the present circumstances into account when evaluating future requests.

Academic Senate and university leaders this week also communicated with faculty about their role in serving students as part of a community: We must recognize that while we have pledged to be their teachers, we, as professors, cannot forget that we are also together in journey of lifelong learning that calls for embracing these profound moments of disruption and discomfort as opportunities for individual and collective growth.

Get ready for Tuesdays launch of Campus Ready, the Finance, Operations and Administration website to help ensure UC Davis is campus ready for you as we gradually resume administrative and office work in step with the gradual return of research and students over the coming months.

Weve already posted our guidelines for this process. They include a requirement for every work site (e.g., building, department, program, school) to establish a written COVID-19 prevention plan addressing such key prevention practices as staying home if you are sick and encouraging others to do the same, physical (social) distancing, use of face coverings (Yolo Countys face-covering order is still in effect), frequent practicing of hand hygiene (i.e., hand-washing, sanitizer use); regular cleaning and disinfection of workspace and personal items; and minimizing the use of shared or communal property or equipment.

The website coming next week will provide a toolbox (including templates) to help create and implement the work site plans. The site is intended to serve as a dynamic guide for what you can expect as campus operations evolve, and what will be expected of you.

In my Thursday Thoughts video, Ive got a message for students about their finals next week, and some advice for our graduates.

Today, in my Friday Thoughts, let me congratulate the Class of 2020. To our baccalaureate degree recipients, I will be addressing you in your remote ceremony a week from today. To our advanced-degree recipients, most of you I have already addressed in remote celebrations that began in mid-May, and we have two more to go: for the School of Education and the Graduate School of Management.

I know all of you expected to be walking across the commencement stage, and I want you to know how desperately we wanted to make that happen. But nothing can take away your achievement and the extra credit you all deserve for persevering in the face of a pandemic and, more recently, the tragic killing in Minneapolis that has a nation once again outraged over the senseless death of another person of color.

Yet here you are, graduates in STEM and agriculture, the social sciences and the arts and humanities, the law and business administration, and medicine and veterinary medicine going out into the world at a time when your knowledge and skills and ideas and creativity are needed more than ever.

Our world is under siege by a virus, our nation under siege by racism. We have incredible faith in our newest Aggie graduates to take on these tremendous challenges and help build and innovate a healthier, safer and more equitable future for everyone.

Sincerely,

Gary S. MayChancellor

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Checking In With Chancellor May: Beyond the Moment - UC Davis

In a study published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine, scientists in the U.S. and Japan report that in the laboratory, cats can readily become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and may be able to pass the virus to other cats.

Professor of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine Yoshihiro Kawaoka led the study, in which researchers administered to three cats SARS-CoV-2 isolated from a human patient. The following day, the researchers swabbed the nasal passages of the cats and were able to detect the virus in two of the animals. Within three days, they detected the virus in all of the cats.

The day after the researchers administered virus to the first three cats, they placed another cat in each of their cages. Researchers did not administer SARS-CoV-2 virus to these cats.

Each day, the researchers took nasal and rectal swabs from all six cats to assess them for the presence of the virus. Within two days, one of the previously uninfected cats was shedding virus, detected in the nasal swab, and within six days, all of the cats were shedding virus. None of the rectal swabs contained virus.

Each cat shed SARS-CoV-2 from their nasal passages for up to six days. The virus was not lethal and none of the cats showed signs of illness. All of the cats ultimately cleared the virus.

That was a major finding for us the cats did not have symptoms, says Kawaoka, who also holds a faculty appointment at the University of Tokyo. Kawaoka is also helping lead an effort to create a human COVID-19 vaccine called CoroFlu.

The findings suggest cats may be capable of becoming infected with the virus when exposed to people or other cats positive for SARS-CoV-2. It follows a study published in Science by scientists at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences that also showed cats (and ferrets) could become infected with and potentially transmit the virus. The virus is known to be transmitted in humans through contact with respiratory droplets and saliva.

Its something for people to keep in mind, says Peter Halfmann, a research professor at UWMadison who helped lead the study. If they are quarantined in their house and are worried about passing COVID-19 to children and spouses, they should also worry about giving it to their animals.

Both researchers advise that people with symptoms of COVID-19 avoid contact with cats. They also advise cat owners to keep their pets indoors, in order to limit the contact their cats have with other people and animals.

Kawaoka is concerned about the welfare of animals. The World Organization for Animal Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say there is no justification in taking measures against companion animals that may compromise their welfare.

Humans remain the biggest risk to other humans in transmission of the virus. There is no evidence cats readily transmit the virus to humans, nor are there documented cases in which humans have become ill with COVID-19 because of contact with cats.

There are, however, confirmed instances of cats becoming infected because of close contact with humans infected with the virus, and several large cats at the Bronx Zoo have also tested positive for the virus.

For instance, according to an April 22 announcement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two cats in two private homes in New York state tested positive for COVID-19. One had been in a home with a person with a confirmed case of the viral disease. The cats showed mild signs of respiratory illness and were expected to make a full recovery.

Additional cats have also tested positive for COVID-19 after close contact with their human companions, says Sandra Newbury, director of the UWMadison Shelter Medicine Program. Newbury is leading a research study in several states in the U.S. to test animal-shelter cats that might have previously been exposed to human COVID-19 cases.

Animal welfare organizations are working very hard in this crisis to maintain the human-animal bond and keep pets with their people, says Newbury. Its a stressful time for everyone, and now, more than ever, people need the comfort and support that pets provide.

Its something for people to keep in mind, says Peter Halfmann, who helped lead the study. If they are quarantined in their house and are worried about passing COVID-19 to children and spouses, they should also worry about giving it to their animals.

Newbury has worked with the CDC and the American Veterinary Medical Association to develop recommendations for shelters housing potentially exposed pets, which they may do while owners are hospitalized or otherwise unable to provide care because of their illness. The UWMadison study helps confirm experimentally that cats can become infected, though the risk of natural infection from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 seems to be quite low, Newbury says. Of the 22 animals the program has tested, none have had positive polymerase chain reaction tests for the virus, she adds.

Cats are still much more likely to get COVID-19 from you, rather than you get it from a cat, says Keith Poulsen, director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, who recommends that pet owners first talk to their veterinarians about whether to have their animals tested. Testing should be targeted to populations of cats and other species shown to be susceptible to the virus and virus transmission.

With respect to pets, were targeting companion animals in communal residences with at-risk populations, such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities, Poulsen says. There is a delicate balance of needing more information through testing and the limited resources and clinical implications of positive tests.

So, what should pet owners do?

Ruthanne Chun, associate dean for clinical affairs at UW Veterinary Care, offers the following advice:

As always, animal owners should include pets and other animals in their emergency preparedness planning, including keeping on hand a two-week supply of food and medications, she says. Preparations should also be made for the care of animals should you need to be quarantined or hospitalized due to illness.

References: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in Domestic Cats by Peter J. Halfmann, Ph.D.; Masato Hatta, D.V.M., Ph.D.; Shiho Chiba, Ph.D.; Tadashi Maemura, D.V.M., Ph.D.; Shufang Fan, Ph.D.; Makoto Takeda, M.D., Ph.D.; Noriko Kinoshita, M.D.; Shin-ichiro Hattori, Ph.D.; Noriko Kinoshita, M.D. and Shin-ichiro Hattori, Ph.D., 13 May 2020, New England Journal of Medicine.DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2013400

The study was supported by the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.

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Study Confirms Cats Can Become Infected With COVID-19 - SciTechDaily

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. Even while adapting to the day-to-day challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting the health of animals and the people that take care of them across the Hoosier state continues to be a priority for Purdue Universitys Veterinary Hospital.

Animals play such an important role in our lives, said Dr. Ellen Lowery, director of the Veterinary Hospital. Our focus from the beginning of this situation was to continue providing exceptional client care and protecting the animals they care for.

Currently, the hospital is accepting emergency and urgent cases, as well as preventive and elective procedures as supplies of personal protective equipment and hospital staffing supports. Lowery emphasized that everything is treated on a case-by-case basis.

The hospital is continuing to restrict access to its small and large animal hospital reception areas and provides car-side drop-off and pickup to help protect both animal owners and hospital staff. When a client arrives for an appointment at either hospital, they are instructed to call the appropriate reception area to let hospital staff know that they are in the parking lot. A staff member will then come outside to meet them and receive the patient. The client will be updated through text messaging, phone calls or email as the animal is being treated.

We understand that this is an extremely stressful time for the client and the patient, Lowery said. We work closely with the client to reassure them that their animal is in the best possible care, and we keep them informed during the entire process.

Lowery anticipates that over the next month, the hospital will return to seeing more animals for preventive and elective procedures, as well as continuing to provide advanced care through the specialty services. Social distancing, the use of face masks, and other sanitation measures will continue to be a critical component of health protection for clients and the hospital team.

Were working closely with the state to do our part to help flatten the curve as we work through this pandemic together, Lowery said.

A video and up-to-date guidelines are available on the hospitals website.

Whether its a pet or the farm animal population, animals are so important to the overall health of our world, Lowery said. We want to be able to provide that necessary and, at times, critical care. Im thankful for every person who is coming here to work to make sure that the hospital stays functional and that we can do what we are called to do, which is take the best possible care of our clients and their animals.

To reach the Purdue Veterinary Teaching Hospital:

Small animal reception: 765-494-1107

Large animal reception: 765-494-8548

About the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine seeks to advance global animal and human health and well-being through excellence in learning, discovery and engagement while serving as a major referral center for the diagnosis and treatment of animal diseases. Faculty research both animal and human health, with an emphasis on animal welfare science and the human-animal bond; infectious diseases and immunology; cancer; neuroscience; and musculoskeletal biology and orthopedics. The college also is one of only a few nationally that educate all members of the veterinary team, offering the doctor of veterinary medicine degree as well as bachelor's and associates degrees in veterinary nursing, post-graduate internships and residencies for veterinarians seeking specialty training, and graduate degrees in the departments of Basic Medical Sciences, Comparative Pathobiology, and Veterinary Clinical Sciences. For more information visit http://www.vet.purdue.edu.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a top public research institution developing practical solutions to todays toughest challenges. Ranked the No. 6 Most Innovative University in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, Purdue delivers world-changing research and out-of-this-world discovery. Committed to hands-on and online, real-world learning, Purdue offers a transformative education to all. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue has frozen tuition and most fees at 2012-13 levels, enabling more students than ever to graduate debt-free. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap at purdue.edu.

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Purdue University's Veterinary Hospital presses on to continue treating Indiana's animals - Times-Mail

Covid-19 has erased from our lives many things we used to take for granted. From high street shopping to dining out, the pandemic has altered the way we interact with the world, and many social customs may disappear forever. Who would have thought the handshake could go the way of the dodo? There are, however, upsides to the lockdown. Not only is the tech bringing people closer than ever before (am I alone in speaking to relatives on a much more frequent basis these days?), but it could be set to revolutionise the way our pets receive veterinary treatment

In my case, going to the vets used to involve travelling there by car with assorted pooches strapped into the back. Then, waiting in a packed reception with whining dogs and anxious cats before seeing a very nice vet for a consultation. That spot on my dogs back had been growing for months, it seemed. Dark thoughts at the back of my mind, convinced me it was the Big C, and poor Sophie, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, had only months to live. Of course, in the end, it turned out to an age-related spot.

Id often asked myself whether our pets could be treated and triaged with less fuss and anxiety remotely. Many veterinary practices now, including my own, have been forced to do telephone consultations and dispense medicines whilst maintaining social distancing rules. A fairly joyless and fraught experience, in my own opinion.

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

Not that many, it seems, are going that extra mile and embracing the full on, increasingly accessible tool of video consultations, zapping at one fell swoop the need for detailed descriptions of the pets ailment. After all, a picture, or rather a video, is better than a thousand words.

Step in, the Cat Vet, Dr Jeremy Campbell of The London Cat Clinic who is not simply phlegmatically opting for video consultations as a must, but sees them as a potential portal into the future of veterinary medicine. They could, after all, be positioned somewhere between getting ourselves unduly worked up as an amateur armchair vet to potentially reducing the need for a stressful and potentially unnecessary trip to the vets in the first place.

Dr Campbell is one of the growing number of practitioners behind the drive to open up veterinary treatment to those unable, unwilling or too anxiety ridden to jump in the car to see their vet. In these strange times, the practices video consultations are pioneering stuff; in the same way that the clinics sole focus on felines was a pioneering move when it opened in 2017.

Cat owners can access the video consultations directly via the clinics website or else phone the practice for an appointment, which usually lasts 20 minutes. Dr Campbell explains: The video consultation is not meant to turn anyone into a vet in twenty minutes but to allow us to have a focused conversation about any concerns.

They dont need to have their cat trapped in front of a webcam, but they should be nearby and relaxed, he says. If we feel we cannot make an assessment via the information provided and ask the pet owner to bring the cat into the clinic as a direct result of the consultation, we will waive the fee of the initial video or phone call. This is to take the pressure off the pet owner to judge which cases can be seen remotely and which ones cannot. This is our job, after all.

Dr Campbell see video consultations as a triage service to determine if a patient can be assessed remotely or must be seen in the clinic.

Part of the client-vet bond is that mutual provision of support and if a client feels they can reach out to us to check on a problem particularly if they are unwell or self-isolating then this must be a winner for all involved particularly our loved felines.

No hype, just the advice and analysis you need

Dr Campbell predicts that in future, this mode of veterinary consultation could run alongside traditional vet visits for things like routine post-operative checks, weight management and nutritional consultations. The current crisis is making people more aware of the technology and more comfortable with it.

His colleague, Dr Serina Filler, agrees: We have long in-clinic appointment times to ensure we get to examine the entire cat and often pick up on subtle changes like heart murmurs or small tumours before the owner has noticed anything being wrong. But follow-ups for already diagnosed conditions could be done remotely to a greater degree which we have been doing for a lot of our cases via telephone and email all along.

For anxious pets, video consultations have another advantage: they can remain in the comfort of their own home free of the pokes and prods they associates with a trip to the vets.

Whether coronavirus has opened up a whole new world of veterinary treatment via remote consultations remains to be seen. For now, video consultations are a very useful innovation in our socially distanced times, with the potential to open up veterinary treatment to more patients, and prevent needless anxiety for armchair diagnosticians.

Marie Carter is the editor and publisher of Pets Magazine

Go here to read the rest:
Why video vet appointments are just the ticket for anxious pets - The Independent

From snakes and pangolins to farms and wet markets, our relationship with animals has come under intense scrutiny as many search for answers to the origin of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Yet while definitive evidence remains elusive, we can be confident that our knowledge and understanding of animal health at a global level is actually more robust than ever, including within livestock farming, which has been among the scapegoats for the pandemic.

Scientists have found that aroundsix out of every 10infectious diseases are, like COVID-19, zoonotic, or pass between animals and people. However, we also know that the vast majority of these diseases originate inwildliferather than in pets or livestock.

Moreover, to date, there isno evidence that farmed livestock, including pigs and poultry, transmit COVID-19 and contribute to the global spread of infection.

Rather, global co-operation and advances in veterinary medicine mean that livestock diseases whether zoonotic or not do not usually spread internationally in the same way and with the same speed that COVID-19 has done.

This is due to the development of global systems ofdisease surveillance, which allow countries to share information about outbreaks, as well as mechanisms such ascompartmentalisation, which allow livestock trade and movement to continue between defined areas that are demonstrably disease-free.

These measures, along with the improved availability and use of animal vaccines and medicines, have meant that even if diseases pass from wild animals to domesticated animals, outbreaks and their impact on people can be confined and managed. This is crucial in ensuring that livestock do not become a source of major global health issues.

Nevertheless, to properly understand and manage the risk factors associated with diseases like COVID-19, health authorities must treat the pandemic as part of a wider system, which includes animal, human and environmental health, or what we call One Health.

For example, many achievements in improving public health in recent years have resulted from innovations in animal agriculture that protect farmers, food handlers and consumers as well as animals.

These developments have included the preventative use of vaccines as well as measures designed to keep disease out of farms, or to contain them within the farm if a disease outbreak does occur.

Such innovations are often most effectively and rigorously applied in indoor or contained farms, where conditions can be closely managed to maintain animal health and welfare, which is critical to productivity and sustainability.

An effective vaccine for poultry widely administered across breeding farms since the mid-1990s resulted in humancases of salmonella plummetingwhile efforts to eradicate tuberculosis in cattle will also protect people. Vaccinating cows against leptospirosis, meanwhile, reduces the risk of exposure of dairy farmers. And even in the throes of a pandemic, veterinarians are working closely with livestock farmers to maintain animal health for safe food production and to minimise animal welfare issues that might arise through disruption caused by COVID-19 restrictions.

This has included veterinarians advising on steps to continue the safe testing of cattle for tuberculosis while observing social distancing practices where handling systems make this possible, protecting cattle and people alike from the threat of disease.

Screens and dividers have also been introduced in abattoirs and meat-packing plants to allow staff to keep processing livestock during the pandemic, providing food supplies and incomes at a crucial time.

Governments worldwide have identified vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and veterinary services as essential, not only in the interests of animal health but in the associated interests of human health as well.

Animal health threats may be changing as the world is changing, but there are sadly no halcyon days to which we can revert to avoid threats like COVID-19. This is why ongoing collaboration across human and animal medicine is vital. A key element of this is developing and sharing an understanding among doctors, veterinarians, and environmental experts around the identification of risks in terms of zoonotic potential.

This means assessing and understanding the critical control points in the entire farm to fork supply chain and taking action to mitigate risks, from improved genetics and breeding to hygienic farm conditions, widespread vaccination, and food safety standards. But ultimately, we need to create the One Health systems that will maintain an appropriate balance between humans, animals, and environment.

The coronavirus pandemic has reminded everyone just how closely linked our fortunes health, social and economic are.

Although there is no evidence livestock or pets transmit the virus, it matters less which animal or market started the outbreak and more how we collectively respond to similar risks in the future.

Dr Simon DohertyGuest authorInstitute for Global Food Security, Queens University Senior Vice-President of the British Veterinary Association

Follow this link:
Improving 'One Health' is more important than the COVID-19 blame game - Health Europa

Manufacturing leaders expect some elements of the industrys pandemic response, such as reduced business travel and more employees working from home, might be here to stay.

Nobody is traveling right now, obviously I think thats going to be one of the permanent legacies of this crisis, said Austin Ramirez, CEO of Husco International, a manufacturer of vehicle components with locations in Waukesha and Whitewater.

During a webinar yesterday hosted by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, Ramirez predicted a permanent, significant downturn in business travel, adding the associated expense reduction has helped the company better respond to COVID-19. Plus, he noted that holding virtual meetings has saved a lot of time.

Husco has also eliminated inter-facility travel between three nearby sites in Wisconsin and Iowa, keeping each location self-contained.

Meanwhile, about 20 percent of the team at Pindel Global Precision have been working from home for the past few months. And company leaders have taken action to limit the spread of the virus among workers still on the manufacturing floor.

Read the full story at WisBusiness.com: https://www.wisbusiness.com/?p=1452357

Alliant Energy is planning to acquire six new solar energy projects in the state as part of the companys long-term strategy for shifting to renewables.

Pending approval by the state Public Service Commission, the company expects the projects will produce enough energy to power 175,000 homes per year. Theyre also expected to create more than 1,200 construction jobs and provide about $80 million in local tax revenues over a 30-year period.

The projects would be located in Grant, Jefferson, Richland, Rock, Sheboygan and Wood counties. They would range in size from 50 to 200 megawatts.

Along with the rest of the Clean Energy Blueprint, these projects will help customers avoid more than $2 billion in long-term costs, said David de Leon, president of Alliant Energys Wisconsin energy company.

Alliant Energy will be submitting applications for the projects with the PSC this week, according to a release. The company expects the agency to make a decision in the first half of 2021.

See more on the companys plans: http://poweringwhatsnext.alliantenergy.com/clean-energy/

After Alliant Energy recently announced plans to retire a coal plant in Sheboygan, the Sierra Club of Wisconsin is urging the company to go further and retire another coal plant near Portage.

Coal costs us. It pollutes our air and water, it threatens the health of our climate, and now we know its also unnecessarily costing customers millions of dollars. We in Wisconsin have had enough. Its time to retire the Columbia coal plant and go all-in on investing in clean energy, said Sierra Club volunteer leader Victoria Gillet.

According to Elizabeth Ward, director of the Wisconsin chapter of the Sierra Club, a recent analysis by the organization found closing both plants and replacing them with renewables would lead to millions in savings for the companys customers.

The company announced Friday it would be closing the Edgewater coal plant near Sheboygan, which was losing millions of dollars each year.

We are encouraged by Alliants recent decision to close Edgewater, and its pledge to build 1000MW of new solar by 2023 will bring new jobs to one of Wisconsins fastest growing industries: clean energy, Ward said in a statement. Now its time to commit to retiring the Columbia coal plant and double down on the benefits for customers, public health, and our climate.

See the Sierra Club analysis: http://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce-authors/u2196/SierraClub_CostOfCoal.pdf

See the statement on the Edgewater plant closing: http://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2020/05/sierra-club-statement-alliant-s-edgewater-coal-plant-retirement-announcement

UW researchers have found that COVID-19 can spread between animals. But theyre not sure if it can be spread from a pet to its owner.

Professor Yoshihiro Kawaoka in the UW- Madison School of Veterinary Medicine infected three cats with SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19. In one to three days, the cats had the virus. Then, they put a different cat in each of the cats cages. Each cat introduced became infected in three to eight days.

Cats can transmit the virus between each other, but they dont and have not been demonstrated to pass the virus between cats, for example, and humans, said Dr. Mark Markel, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine, in a Milwaukee Rotary Club briefing.

For pet owners who are worried about their companions getting infected, Markel said, theres so low of a likelihood that theyre going to be infected, that you dont need to worry about it.

But if owners do want to take precautions, Markel advised to keep the pet at home and separate an infected family member from the pet. However, no typical symptoms are shown in animals with COVID-19; even Kawaokas cats didnt show symptoms of coronavirus.

Although we do have the ability at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory to do SARS-CoV-2 testing of animals, we are trying to do it as little as possible primarily because we are creating the test kits and the media for the human testing, said Markel. Most of those resources, the same media and reagents that might be used for animals, are being dedicated to human use.

Another reason the vet school is reluctant to test pets is the concern that owners will abandon that animal with no real justification for doing that.

Thats because there is no evidence that pets do transmit COVID-19 to their owners.

As far as predicting which viruses could jump from animals to humans, UW is hoping to develop a consortium to find out. Markel touted UWs School of Medicine and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine and College of Agricultural and Life Sciences as the leaders of infectious disease research to find out what viruses can spread between animals and humans.

UW is already researching this. The Goldberg Lab sequences viruses and bacteria in Uganda to decide which ones transmit to humans like COVID-19 that went from a bat to a pangolin to a human.

The answer is a very challenging problem, said Markel. The more rational pathway is to be ready when an outbreak begins to begin testing and create testing very quickly. They did do this to some extent with SARS. When there was funding around SARS, there was some initial vaccine development. But the money dried up when SARS went away.

When funding goes away, its difficult to make a vaccine that is adaptable to the next outbreak, he said.

UW has two different COVID-19 vaccines in trials.

One is by Kawaoka and his company FluGen. The other is by Jorge Osorio, a professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine.

But the goal is to kind of have a basebone of this vaccine so that if a new in this case, coronavirus, comes in the picture somehow, then you can create a vaccine much more readily than the 12 to 18 months or earlier or longer that it might take to create a vaccine, said Markel. Its very difficult to predict the next pathogen.

DHS reports the states COVID-19 death toll at 517 up three since the last count.

The states number of confirmed cases also rose since Monday by 279 bringing the cumulative case count to 15,863. The positive tests results account for 3.6 percent of the total tests received Tuesday, continuing the steady decline in positive tests since Saturdays peak of 6.8 percent.

DHS continues to monitor the spread of this virus at all times, according to Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk, adding she hopes people in close proximity were not harboring COVID-19 over Memorial Day weekend.

Monitoring the virus will be the work of DHS until there is a vaccine, she said in a briefing.

Even if we have periods of time when the virus seems more quiet and we havent seen as much spread, we know it can come back, said Willems Van Dijk. We dont want to be caught off guard. Thats why testing is so very important for even when were not seeing hundreds of cases like we are today when we test, that we want to keep testing so that if we do start to see the virus increase after a lull that we are all prepared.

An estimated 59 percent of those who tested positive have recovered from COVID-19, while 3 percent of patients have died. Thirty-seven percent are still in a 30-day waiting period of symptom onset or diagnosis.

Counties reporting deaths include: Milwaukee (277), Brown (32), Dane (26), Waukesha (26), Racine (25), Kenosha (22), Rock (16), Walworth (13), Grant (12), Ozaukee (11), Outagamie (7), Fond du Lac (5), Clark (4), Richland (4) and Washington (4).

Door, Jefferson, Sauk and Sheboygan counties report three deaths each. Marinette County reports two deaths.

Adams, Bayfield, Buffalo, Burnett, Calumet, Columbia, Dodge, Iron, Jackson, Juneau, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marathon, Marquette, Monroe, Polk, Waupaca, Winnebago and Wood counties report one death each.

Click here for more coronavirus resources and updates: http://www.wispolitics.com/wisconsin-coronavirus-resources/

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state are the highest theyve been in over a month with 416 patients in hospitals statewide.

According to the Wisconsin Hospital Associations dashboard, thats up 34 from Monday and 24 from last week. Its the highest amount of patients statewide since April 14.

While DHS is aware of the statewide increase, Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk assured that the spike is nothing that would put us in a surge situation with hospitals.

Were in regular touch with our hospitals, and they have indicated theyre good, but something we want to keep an eye on, she said.

Of the states 15,863 confirmed cases, 15 percent have been hospitalized and 3 percent have received intensive care, according to DHS.

DHS reports that 295 of the total COVID patients are in southeastern Wisconsin, and fewer than 60 patients are in each of the six other regions of the state.

And Wisconsin appears to have an adequate supply of beds and ventilators, according to WHA.

ICU beds immediately available in the state number 385 out of 1,436 total in Wisconsin; intermediate care beds 187 out of 878; surgical beds 1,540 out of 7,206; and isolation beds beds in negative pressure rooms meant for isolating patients 1,164 out of 1,970.

Statewide, hospitals have a total of 1,273 ventilators and 307 ventilated patients.

But PPE supplies are still lagging. The WHA data shows that 36 hospitals in the state have seven days or less supply of N95 masks, 34 have a limited supply of gowns and 29 hospitals have limited paper medical masks.

Regardless of federal funding, the Wisconsin National Guard will continue working the statewide pandemic response.

Specimen collection only requires half of the 1,400 Guard members in the states coronavirus response, Wisconsins Adjutant General Paul Knapp told reporters in a briefing.

The other 700 or so citizen soldiers monitor self-isolation facilities and warehousing operations, transport personal protective equipment and testing kits, and assist with a statewide call center and mortuary affairs. The number of soldiers and airmen is based on the requests the Guard has received.

Right now, the Wisconsin National Guard is on a Title 32 order federal active duty through June 24. Gov. Tony Evers and other governors requested President Trump to extend Title 32 through July 31.

We are available and ready to continue testing under state active duty if that were to expire, said Knapp. So as long as the need exists for the Guard to assist in this effort, well be here in one of those statuses or another.

Willems Van Dijk attributes the increase in state testing to the great partnership with the Wisconsin National Guard.

The pandemic is likely to last a year or two until we get (a) vaccine, and well continue to need expanded testing, she said.

Willems Van Dijk noted the funding Evers announced last week will assist local health departments to ramp up testing so that if the Guard is not available, we have established systems and processes and counties for expanding testing throughout our state.

Despite Dane County meeting its health departments metrics to begin phase 1 of its reopening plan, state health officials warn the virus is still out there.

DHS Deputy Secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said the metrics Dane County has met to reopen regarding mitigating COVID-19 doesnt mean its absent from the community.

The first phase of Forward Dane allows businesses such as restaurants, gyms and retail establishments to open at 25 percent capacity with physical distancing.

But Willems Van Dijk said to refrain from going out with a hundred different friends that you havent seen since March. She recommends being cautious about leaving the house, limiting interactions to a small social circle and diligence with common sense things, such as hand washing.

Phase 1 also allows indoor gatherings at commercial facilities of 50 people or less; indoor gatherings at a private residence of 10 people or less; outdoor gatherings of 50 or less; and reopening public courts and fields.

The order notes that select businesses and activities with high risk for disease transmission, such as K-12 schools and public playgrounds, are still closed.

The county will remain in Phase 1 for a minimum of 14 days, which is one incubation period for COVID-19. In order to get to phase 2, the county has to meet certain criteria. If thats not met, then the data will be reassessed regularly until the county is ready to continue through the phases.

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. announced a new online retail portal to connect shoppers with more than 230 Main Street businesses statewide.

The website, linked below, is a searchable database of locally owned shops organized by region or type of goods that can be bought online or shipped.

Local small businesses have been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, said WEDC Secretary and CEO Missy Hughes in a statement. This is a great opportunity to help sustain local and small businesses in our downtown districts throughout Wisconsin.

According to a release from the WEDC, in order to be listed, shops must be located in one of the 34 Wisconsin Main Street communities. Wisconsin Main Street is a community development program administered by WEDC that targets Wisconsins historic commercial districts.

Additional offerings from local businesses in Connect Communities member communities will be added in the future, read the release.

Visit the website: http://www.mainstreetwi.com/

#TOP STORIES#

# Wisconsin State Fair decision will be made by board chairman Yingling

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2020/05/26/board-chairman-in-charge-of-state-fair-decision.html

# Takeout just isnt the same: Handful of restaurants reopen in face of virus

http://madison.com/wsj/news/local/takeout-just-isnt-the-same-handful-of-restaurants-reopen-in-face-of-virus/article_d55abf6c-4826-5b23-8530-c5cd82e63aba.html

#TOPICS#

# AGRIBUSINESS

WFBF seeking 2020 Leadership Institute participants

http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=572&yr=2020

# ECONOMY

Area restaurants carefully approach reopening dine-in service

Dane County takes first tentative steps toward getting back to business

http://madison.com/wsj/news/local/dane-county-takes-first-tentative-steps-toward-getting-back-to-business/article_66ec048e-762e-5d09-bce9-f0979cbee54f.html

# EDUCATION

Two UWRF students named CAFES outstanding seniors

http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=570&yr=2020

Sheila Briggs running for Wisconsin State Superintendent https://www.wpr.org/sheila-briggs-running-wisconsin-state-superintendent

Back to school? 1 in 5 teachers are unlikely to return to reopened classrooms this fall, poll says https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/education/2020/05/26/coronavirus-schools-teachers-poll-ipsos-parents-fall-online/5254729002/

# ENVIRONMENT

NRCS announces second EQIP signup for 2020 funding

http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=569&yr=2020

Grazing goats abound: Madison Parks Division hires herd to remove invasive plants https://www.wpr.org/grazing-goats-abound-madison-parks-division-hires-herd-remove-invasive-plants

# HEALTH CARE

Advocate Aurora invests in Texas-based PPE manufacturer

A progress report on how Wisconsin is doing against coronavirus https://www.wpr.org/progress-report-how-wisconsin-doing-against-coronavirus

Visit link:
WED AM News: Manufacturers expect some elements of pandemic response are here to stay; UW researchers have two COVID-19 vaccines in trials -...

When it comes to cognitive testing, the Goffins cockatoos at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna are pros.

Researchers have tested them on toolmaking, shape-matching and other tasks, and found that a cockatoo can learn how to solve a problem from watching another cockatoo do it just once.

Now, researchers in Alice M. I. Auerspergs lab, the home of the Austrian cockatoo colony, have created an experimental setup they call an innovation arena. Its a new way to test the ability of animals to innovate, and might be used for a variety of species, in principle. And they compared the performance of laboratory-raised cockatoos and wild-caught birds, to see if the lab-raised birds had acquired an edge by hanging out with human beings.

It might seem like pure human arrogance to think that we make animals smarter, but previous research efforts have found a captivity effect in animals, including chimpanzees, that have been in long-term human custody. Their cognitive performance was better than that of their wild relatives on human-devised tests. Therefore, the humans hypothesized, exposure to human environments and interaction with humans might improve animals ability to innovate.

The hypothesis did not hold up in this experiment. As the researchers reported Tuesday in the journal Scientific Reports, the wild birds were just as smart as the captive birds but a good deal less interested in bothering with the experiment at all.

Perhaps the birds did not appreciate that the innovation arena was like the set of an avian TV game show: a semicircular area with 20 doors, each with a different task behind it to solve for a food reward. It certainly looks like fun from a human point of view. And perhaps birds that have spent a lot of time around humans and their experiments get the idea that a weird-looking apparatus indicates that humans are going to offer food for otherwise nonsensical tasks like moving a lever or pushing a button.

Among the 20 tasks revealed by the doors were ones the researchers called the seesaw, the swish, the shovel, the swing, the mill and the twig. Each task required a different solution to earn the treat. The bird might have to push a platform down or a lever sideways. Or it might have to press a knob, nudge a bowl, rotate a wheel or bend a wire. Each time the birds were set in the arena, the tasks were shuffled, hidden behind different doors.

Innovation in animals is defined in different ways, but it more or less means coming up with new ways to solve problems. The researchers wanted to test the rate of innovation: how many solutions a bird could come up with in a given amount of time. And they wanted an experimental setup that, in principle, might be adapted to different species. Thus, the arena.

The experiment was designed both to show that the arena was workable and to test the captivity effect. The researchers set up a kind of competition between the major-league, lab-raised team in Vienna and a pickup squad of temporarily captive cockatoos. (The latter had been caught in the wild in Indonesia and kept long enough that they were comfortable around people and the experimental apparatus.)

The A-team performed in Vienna; the scrubs were in a field station lab in Indonesia. The competitions were often run more or less simultaneously, according to Theresa Rssler, who conducted the experiments in Vienna while Berenika Mioduszewska ran them in Indonesia.

As anticipated, the apparatus worked out. The Vienna birds, familiar with experiments and their rewards, dove right in when placed at the starting point. They very quickly approach the tasks and wander around and try to open the boxes and get out the rewards, Ms. Rssler said.

But they didnt always follow the game plan no surprise to a cockatoo researcher. Sometimes the birds, both lab-raised and wild, had their own idea of how a problem might be solved. For instance, some opened the Wire task in several instances by removing the window hinges (which were closer to the reward) instead of unbending the wire, the researchers wrote. Ms. Rssler said, In many of the experiments they seemed to outsmart us at some point.

The big difference between the two groups was in their interest in doing the tests at all. The researchers classified 10 of 11 lab birds as motivated, meaning they began right away to open doors and look for food. Only three of the eight wild birds were motivated.

The unmotivated birds rarely approached the setup or interacted with the tasks, the researchers reported. But the motivated birds both wild-caught and lab-raised performed at the same level in solving the tasks.

Ms. Rssler said that if the wild birds decide they want to interact with the apparatus, they are just as skillful problem solvers.

Read the rest here:
Wild Cockatoos Are Just as Smart as Lab-Raised Ones - The New York Times

LONGMEADOW Just in time for the stay at home advisory that was put in place in the beginning of March, one Longmeadow resident had started her own mobile veterinary practice, Paws Calls.

Kara Ryczek grew up in Longmeadow and graduated from Longmeadow High School in 1992. After graduation, she attended Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where she earned a BcS in biology in 1996. While she attended Trinity, she worked at a local veterinary hospital during her senior year. Following her time at Trinity, she chose Tufts University for Veterinary Medicine as her next move, and graduated with her DVM in 2001.

From there, Ryczek completed a 13-month rotating internship at VCA South Shore.

After my internship, I worked in small animal hospitals. At these practices, Id see routine visits, sick appointments and surgical cases once a week, Ryczek explained. I missed emergency work, as this was mostly what I saw during my internship, so I picked up shifts at Boston Road Animal Hospital on weekends and holidays.

Eventually, Ryczek moved back to Longmeadow, and worked part time at the VCA Shaker Road Animal Hospital, and currently, she works at West Springfield Animal Hospital.

I decided to open Paws Calls at the beginning of this year. I wanted to be able to help local family and friends with their pets emergencies, routine care, and overall ease of maintaining the pets health care at home, Ryczek said.

She no longer has a routine surgical day through West Springfield Animal Hospital, as she stopped when she became pregnant with her son. However, with her new practice, she now has the opportunity to do minor procedures.

With the mobile practice, Im able to perform minor surgical procedures as needed. Im seeing patients on scheduled appointments, but I am also open to fit in emergencies as needed, Ryczek explained.

The opening of Paws Calls occurred at the beginning of 2020, and the timing just happened to coincide with COVID-19, and the closing of many local businesses, Ryczek said. Veterinarians are considered essential, so she has been helping a friend at her local clinic, while building Paws Calls.

Paws Calls is only seeing dogs and cats at this time. Ryczek is working by herself for now, and is using her own SUV. During the pandemic, she is asking owners to see the pets outside for dogs, and to see cats in an enclosed porch, mud room or garage. The business is currently set up for annual physical examinations, vaccinations, microchips, routine diagnostic testing, sick visits and at-home euthanasia.

Paws Calls can be reached at 617-797-3070, on her Facebook Page, Dr Paws Calls, or by email at dr.pawscalls@gmail.com.

See the original post here:
Paws Calls offers vet appointments in the comfort of home - Reminder Publications

Is there anything a dog can't do?

Emotional support animals, medical support animals, drug sniffing dogs, bed bug sniffing dogs...and soon Coronavirus sniffing dogs!

YES!

A new program at theUniversity of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) has scientests and researchersworking with dogs to see if their nosescan help with early detection of COVID-19 in humans.

In this program happening right now,8 dogs are being trained in a laboratory setting. Over three weeks, they will first learn to recognize the smell of COVID-19 in saliva and urine samples from infected patients (through an imprintingtechnique) and will then be tested to see if they can detect the infected samples from the non-infected samples.

Cynthia Otto, a Vet and director ofPenn Vet's Working Dog Center says:

"The potential impact of these dogs and their capacity to detect COVID-19 could be substantial.This study will harness the dog's extraordinary ability to support the nation's COVID-19 surveillance systems, with the goal of reducing community spread."

So when could we start seeing COVID-19 sniffing dogs? These trained dogs could be ready to start sniffing humans by July.

For more info on this training click here: COVID Sniffing Dogs

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Dogs Being Trained to Sniff Out COVID-19 - RADIO.COM

(CNN) Cats can infect other cats with the novel coronavirus, but they may not show any symptoms, according to a study published Wednesday.

The findings add to a growing body of research showing how cats, big and small, can contract the virus. But experts say there is no evidence felines are contributing to the spread of Covid-19.

In the study, researchers infected three cats and found that all of them were shedding the virus after three days. When the infected cats were paired with healthy ones housed together for a few days the healthy cats developed the virus, too.

None of the animals in the study showed any symptoms such as abnormal temperatures or substantial weight loss.

The first two cats in the United States to test positive both New Yorkersshowed mild respiratory symptoms, although both were expected to make a full recovery. Eightlions and tigersat the Bronx Zoo also tested positive.

The team behind the new study, led by international virus expert Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Tokyo and scientists from the University of Wisconsin, said more research is needed to better understand whether cats could transmit the virus to humans as well. So far, there is no evidence that they can.

Given the need to stop the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic through various mechanisms a better understanding of the role cats may play in the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to humans is needed, they wrote in aletterto the New England Journal of Medicine.

The American Veterinary Medical Association noted that the new research was conducted in a lab and its unclear whether cats can be as easily infected in the real world. A small number of animals worldwide are confirmed to have the virus, the group said in a statement. There is no evidence to date that these relatively few naturally infected animals have played any role in transmitting COVID-19 to humans, it said.

While officials are still learning more about coronavirus and pets, the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventionrecommendslimiting interactions between pets and people or animals outside of a household.

Keep cats indoors whenever possible, the CDC says, and walk dogs on a leash, maintaining a distance of at least six feet from other people and animals. The agency also recommends keeping dogs away from public places where large numbers of people and animals gather, such as dog parks.

If someone is ill with Covid-19 whether suspected or confirmed officials recommend another member of the household care for pets. If thats not possible, people should wear cloth face coverings around animals, making sure to wash their hands before and after any interactions.

And when people are sick, officials say they should refrain from petting or snuggling with their pets and avoid being kissed or licked by them.

Click here for more coronavirus coverage.

The-CNN-Wire & 2020 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.

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Cats can infect other cats with coronavirus, researchers find - Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

PUHI The Kauai Humane Society has added two new members to its board of directors, making 11 members now serving on the board.

Recently joining the KHS board are Dr. Ranaella Steinberg and Mindy Smith, Kauai residents who are also board members of other animal-advocacy groups and bring varying expertise to the table.

Smith moved to Kauai more than 20 years ago, formerly owned a travel agency in Lake Tahoe, and founded an interior-design business in San Francisco. On Kauai, shes spent 20 years managing a restaurant in Hanalei, and has an active Hawaii real Estate license. In addition to her new position on the KHS board, she is involved in the Zonta Club of Hanalei Foundation, the Puamana Condos Homeowners Association in Princeville, the Kauai Society for the Protection of Animals and Habitat for Humanity North Shore Committee, and is a member of the Best Friends Society.

Steinberg is a graduate of the college of veterinary medicine at the University of Florida, where she was the recipient of the Presidential Service Award as both an undergraduate and graduate student. She is associated with the North Shore Veterinary Service, but it was an internship in marine-mammal medicine that initially brought Steinberg to Hawaii. Her experience is diverse, with a current focus on companion-animal medicine that blends both conventional and holistic approaches. Shes involved in several professional organizations, including the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and the Human Society Medical Association.

We are thrilled to have such talented individuals join our board, said Mirah Horowitz, executive director of KHS. Both of these women are extremely dedicated to animal welfare and to the island of Kauai.

Dan Giovanni, president of the KHS board, said he is pleased to welcome Steinberg and Smith to the team.

(We) look forward to working with them as we broaden and align the roles of KHS and KSPCA for the betterment of animal welfare on Kauai, said Giovanni, a Kauai resident who originally hails from the San Francisco Bay area, is the former vice president of Hawaiian Electric Company and is now an independent consultant to the electric-power industry.

Other current KHS board members include both Kauai and Mainland residents.

Living in Kalaheo with her husband and their 11-year-old dog Mango, Alicia Iverson joined the KHS board in June 2017, and has served as treasurer since 2018. She has more than 28 years of financial and accounting experience, including serving as the chief financial officer for Koloa Rum Company, a local manufacturer of small-batch, premium, craft Hawaiian rum.

Boardmember and Kauai resident Kurt Last moved to Hawaii in 2013. Last also serves as a consultant for universities and industrial clients, including Duke University, Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of Louisville Brown Cancer Center in their efforts to advance novel therapeutics. He is a former member of the National Institutes of Health Red Team, and is a current member of the Bryant University board of trustees, serving on the investment and finance committees.

Pat McGrath moved to Kauai with her family from Canada in 2003, has been a board member since 2017, and has fostered almost 300 kittens for KHS since 2012. McGrath is the professor of English and chair of the Languages, Arts &Humanities Division at Kauai Community College, where she also serves as one of the campus commissioners on the University of Hawaii Commission on LGBTQ+ Equality, and advises the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) on-campus student club. McGrath was the president of the Kauai Performing Arts Center advisory board from 2015 to 2018.

Dallas resident Dana Rhoden is founder and chief creative officer for Veterinary Education Network, a consulting firm for veterinarians. Rhoden is fear-free certified in veterinary sciences, is trained in animal behavior, and has been in animal rescue and in human and veterinary health care for over 25 years. She was the founder of Southwest Veterinary Symposium, held annually in Texas for veterinarians. She currently lives in Texas with her husband Lee, five dogs, one bird and two ducks. Rhoden joined the KHS board in 2019 and recently chaired the annual Paws for a Cause Gala.

Kauai resident Ann Hayashi joined the KHS board in 2018, and is the executive director for Blue Zones Project in Hawaii, a community well-being-improvement initiative that helps make healthy choices easier for Hawaii residents. She spends her days supporting strategic planning and implementation of the statewide initiative, and her background includes research in global public health and behavioral medicine. Hayashi said she joined the board with the desire to better support her community and the people and animals that live in it. She has two cats and a dog, all of which are the bosses of her house, and now her office, since she has been working at home.

The two remaining boardmembers are Howard Appel and David Cohen, retired entrepreneurs who founded the luxury real estate and travel company Destinations In Paradise. The company has partnered with KHS to help fund transfers of animals to the mainland over the past couple years and, in addition to providing support for KHS, Appel and Cohen are also active supporters of a rare turtle protection and breeding/release program in Mexico. Appel has more than 30 years of experience as president, chief financial officer and certified public accountant. He served as president of Millennium Health until his retirement in 2015, and has sat on multiple directing boards of both public and private firms.

Cohen was the chief operating officer of Millennium Health until his retirement in 2014, and enjoys helping start-up companies and organizations. A non-practicing certified public accountant, Cohen was raised in South Africa and has a bachelors degree in economics and accounting form the University of Cape Town, and he supports education for extreme poverty-stricken young girls in Uganda.

Stephanie Shinno, features and community reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com.

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Humane society welcomes 2 to board - Thegardenisland.com

What do we know about animals and the coronavirus that causes COVID-19? Can a person spread the virus to their pets or contract it from their cat or dog? How is the virus able to move between species? Are zoo animals at risk?

The COVID-19 pandemic has many of us asking these and other questions. To help provide some answers, One Health at UCalgary is hosting a panel of human and animal health experts at a one-hour online conversation on May 27 at 7p.m. During the online event, Drs. Rebecca Archer, a small animal veterinarian, Craig Jenne, an infectious disease specialist, and Doug Whiteside, a zoo veterinarian, will discuss what we do and dont know about animals and COVID-19.

Pet owners are concerned. They want to understand the risk of transmission between them and their animals and how best to mitigate the possibility of spread, says Archer, DVM, a small animal clinical instructor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM).

While the novel coronavirus is, as its name suggests, a new virus, infectious diseases spread from animals are not new. Three quarters of emerging infectious diseases in people come from animals. But how is the virus that causes COVID-19 able to move between species?

This, unfortunately is where most 'new'viruses come from, says Jenne, PhD, associate professor in the Cumming School of Medicine, member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases and Canada Research Chair in Imaging Approaches Towards Studying Infection.

This often occurs when a virus that is endemic or common within one species, or closely related species, acquires a mutation that allows it to 'jump'species.

Jenne says this often happens when a virus mutates the protein responsible for sticking to the host cells allowing the newly emerging virus to stick to the cells of a new host.

Although this process has been brought into the spotlight with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is always occurring, and increased interaction between humans and animals, whether wild or domesticated, increases the chances in the future that mutations allow other 'new' viruses to make the jump.

And its that fact that makes whats known as a One Health approach crucial in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. One Health is a collaborative, transdisciplinary, and multisectoral approach to complex problems that recognizes the interconnection of people and animals in the spaces they share.

COVID-19 emerged at the interface of people, animals, and the environment, says Dr. Herman Barkema, DVM, professor, epidemiology of infectious diseases in UCVM and the Cumming School of Medicine, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Infectious Diseases and director, One Health at UCalgary.

More than ever, we understand that complex problems that impact the health of people, animals, and their common environments must be addressed using a One Health approach one thats transdisciplinary and collaborative.

Have a question youd like answered? Register now and send your question before the event to onehealth@ucalgary.ca, inserting COVID-19 and Animals in the subject line.

Providing One Health leadership is one of the commitments of UCVMs One Community, One Health Strategic Plan.

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What's the risk of COVID-19 spread between people and animals? - UCalgary News

Eyeball-licking geckos, wiggling brain cells and a whole planets worth of weather are among the winners in the University of WisconsinMadisons 10th Cool Science Image Contest.

The quality of the images and videos produced on campus by scientists and people passionate about science is always so impressive, says Terry Devitt, a judge and one of the founders of the contest. It is always a very hard job, but a very enjoyable one, to choose the best among them.

A panel of nine experienced artists, scientists and science communicators judged the scientific content and aesthetic and creative qualities of the 101 images and videos entered in the 2020 version of the contest, which began as part of The Why Files, one of the first popular science news websites.

Cameron Batchelor and Ethan Parrish, graduate students, Geoscience, for a look at the climate-describing bands of color in a slice of stalagmite.

Natalie Betz, associate director, UWMadison Master of Science in Biotechnology, and Anya Wolterman, Macalester College undergraduate geology student, for their section of rock from a rift in the Earths crust in the Lake Superior region.

Caitlin Carlson, graduate student, Department of Bacteriology, for a view of a pair of leaf cutter ants sniffing out each others pheromone thumbprint.

Collin Roland, graduate student, and Lucas Zoet, assistant professor, Department of Geoscience, for a birds-eye view of bluff erosion on the Lake Michigan shore.

Guilherme Gainett, graduate student, and Prashant P. Sharma, assistant professor, Department of Integrative Biology, for an electron micrograph of the spiny leg of a new species of spider.

Ran Zhang, scientist, and Dalton Griner, graduate student, Department of Medical Physics, for an X-ray of flowers used to test and improve mammograms.

Nisha Iyer, postdoctoral fellow, Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, for a picture of a crested gecko licking its own eyeball.

Robert Morgan, graduate student, and Keith Bechtol, assistant professor, Department of Physics, for a snapshot of thousands of distant galaxies made while hunting for the source of a single subatomic particle.

Michael Petersen, Edward Williams and Ray Collier, all staff of the Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center; and Frank McFarland, graduate student, Department of Agronomy, for their image of the first transgenic hemp plants.

Miranda R. Sun, research specialist, Department of Comparative Biosciences, for a brightly colored section of a developing mouse embryo.

Rick Kohrs, instrument technologist, Space Science and Engineering Center, whose animation of 90,000 satellite images shows a full year of Earths weather.

Chris Morrow and Tiaira Porter, graduate students, Department of Neuroscience, for a video capturing the movement of neural stem cells switching from dormancy to activity.

STORY CONTINUES AFTER GALLERY

1 This slice of stalagmite at 250,000 years old, the oldest dated stalagmite in the Midwest is being used to study the climate of ancient mid-continental North America. The colored layers reflect changes in soil above the cave in which the stalagmite formed, with rich soil (and thicker vegetation) revealed in deeper orange bands and less organic matter (and fewer plants) in light green.

Cameron Batchelor, and Ethan Parrish, graduate students, GeoscienceDigital camera

2 This thin section of troctolite, an igneous rock composed of feldspar and olivine, was collected near Duluth, Minnesota, from the Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift. The rift is a tear in the Earths crust caused by continental plates colliding in the Lake Superior region. Polarized light accentuates vivid colors.

Natalie Betz, associate director, UWMadison Master of Science in Biotechnology; Anya Wolterman, Macalester College undergraduate geology studentPetrographic microscope

3 Each colony of leaf cutter ants has a unique chemical thumbprint, a combination of pheromones that members of the colony can recognize as their own. These two Acromyrmex echinatior ants from different colonies are inspecting each others pheromone signatures.

Caitlin Carlson, graduate student, BacteriologyDigital camera with macro lens

4 Storm-driven Lake Michigan waves cut away bluffs in Warnimont Park in Cudahy, Wisconsin, while the freeze and thaw of seeping groundwater wear at the crest. Researchers study the intertwined effects of waves and groundwater on erosion with three-dimensional models of coastal bluffs based on overhead images captured by drone flights.

Collin Roland, graduate student, and Lucas Zoet, assistant professor, GeoscienceDJI Phantom 4 Advanced unmanned aerial vehicle

5 The spines armoring the leg of a tiny, newly described species of huntsman spider, Zalmoxis adze, are a remarkable work of sexual dimorphism theyre completely absent in females. While leg details were an important way to differentiate this spider as a new species, little is known about how the heavy spikes serve males in the leaf litter on the forest floor of Papua New Guinea. But it may be very showy or very violent.

Guilherme Gainett, graduate student, and Prashant P. Sharma, assistant professor, Integrative BiologyField emission scanning electron microscope

6 Flowers stand in for healthy breast tissue in this mammography image, while added calcifications Can you spot them all? represent the sort features doctors look for in X-ray images in an effort to catch breast cancer in early, treatable stages. UWMadison researchers are working to improve detection of patterns of tiny calcifications for faster, safer, more effective diagnosis.

Ran Zhang, scientist, and Dalton Griner, graduate student, Medical PhysicsSelenia Dimensions Mammography System

7 Crested geckos have clear, immovable eyelids, and a swipe of the tongue is the best way to keep them clean and moist. With veritable superpowers like the ability to see in the dark and climb vertical surfaces, geckos often serve as models for bio-inspired engineering.

Nisha Iyer, postdoctoral fellow, Wisconsin Institute for DiscoveryDigital camera

8 This snapshot of the sky contains thousands of distant galaxies, each containing billions of stars. The UWMadison physicists who made it were looking for the flash of the explosion of a single star, the potential source of a sub-atomic particle called a neutrino, spotted zipping through the Earth by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. The distant galaxies, swirling billions of light years away, are all the harder to see because of nearby objects, like the pictured Helix Nebula.

Robert Morgan, graduate student, and Keith Bechtol, assistant professor, PhysicsDark Energy Camera and Victor M. Blanco Telescope

9 Thanks to a gene similar to one that makes some fish glow, leaves of the first transgenic that is, augmented with genes from another species hemp plants appear red when seen through a special filter, while leaves of an unaltered plant are a familiar green. Successfully engineering changes in hemp opens the door to alterations that could affect disease resistance, crop yield, fiber quality and cannabinoid compounds. It offers potential benefits for farmers, consumers and medical applications.

Michael Petersen, Edward Williams and Ray Collier, all staff of the Wisconsin Crop Innovation Center; and Frank McFarland, graduate student, AgronomySmartphone with specialized filter

10 This section of the head of an 11-day-old mouse embryo was expertly prepared to highlight blood vessels marked by the green and red of endothelial cells and laminin protein, respectively in the developing brain (the heart-shaped structure at the center). The vessels are particularly dense at the lower end of the two black slits that will become nostrils, where tissue is fusing together to form the upper lip. If the tissue fails to fuse, the mouse will be left with a birth defect studied by the researchers in the lab that produced the image: a cleft lip.

Miranda R. Sun, research specialist, Comparative Biosciences, School of Veterinary MedicineEpifluorescence microscope

Combining more than 90,000 individual images taken by five satellites two American, one Japanese and two from the European Space Agency perched 22,000 miles above the Earth makes for an animated view of global weather patterns. Strong storms span many days, and seasonal shifts come and go as the sunlight over the poles waxes and wanes and the planet spins from March 2019 to March 2020.

Rick Kohrs, instrument technologist, Space Science and Engineering CenterGeostationary satellites

Neural stem cells switch from a dormant to an active very active, in many cases state in this video from the lab of Neuroscience Professor Darcie Moore. The vigorous wigglers are starting a protein-maintenance program critical for efficient activation and differentiation into health brain cells.

Chris Morrow and Tiaira Porter, graduate students, NeuroscienceConfocal microscope

CONTINUED FROM ABOVE

There was enthusiastic support right out of the gate, and that enthusiasm has grown year after year, says Devitt, once editor of The Why Files and the recently retired director of research communications at UWMadison. Sharing science through imagery is another way to show how science works, and what you can learn from getting a close-up view of nature. And we all love to see something new and amazing.

The contest winners along with a slideshow of all entries are typically displayed each fall in the McPherson Eye Research Institutes Mandelbaum & Albert Family Vision Gallery on the ninth floor of the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research, 1111 Highland Ave. An exhibit will be scheduled and announced as activity on campus allows.

The 2020 winners show off the breadth of research and technical and scientific expertise at UWMadison. The images were captured by experts in their scientific fields, trainees, students and curious amateurs, using flying drones, smartphones, cutting-edge electron microscopes and Earth-facing satellites orbiting tens of thousands of miles away.

Their subjects are both everyday and ephemeral, large enough to encompass billions of stars, and more minuscule than an ant.

The Cool Science Image Contest helps recognize the technical and creative skills required to capture images or video that document science or nature, and benefits from sponsorship by Madisons Promega Corp., with additional support from DoIT Digital Publishing and Printing Services and the UWMadison Division of the Arts.

Winning entries are shared widely on UWMadison websites and in public exhibitions, and all entries are showcased in a slide show at the Wisconsin Science Festival.

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Photo gallery The winners: Cool Science Images 2020 - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dublin, May 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer Market - Global Outlook and Forecast 2020-2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The infrared thermometer market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 15% during the period 2019-2025.

The global infrared thermometer market is going to witness growth due to the worldwide outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic has resulted in a spike in demand for several medical devices, which include nebulizers, blood pressure monitoring devices, medical ventilators along with the non-contact thermometer. In an attempt to contain the highly contagious virus, temperature monitoring has become an essential component across public places, including shopping malls, airports, offices, schools, thereby increasing the demand for non-contact thermometers.

The following factors are likely to contribute to the growth of the infrared thermometer market during the forecast period:

The study considers the present scenario of the infrared thermometer market and its market dynamics for the period 2019-2025. It covers a detailed overview of several market growth enablers, restraints, and trends. The study offers both the demand and supply aspect of the market. It profiles and examines leading companies and other prominent ones operating in the market.

This research report includes a detailed segmentation by product type, application, and geography. The infrared forehead non-contact thermometers market accounted for the largest share of 61% in 2019. Contactless thermometers are easy to use and provide faster results that are highly recommended to measure temperatures in babies and infants. This is increasing the share of the contactless thermometer market. They are considered as reliable, comfortable, and accurate option to measure body temperatures, especially for pediatrics.

Vendors are implementing new technology such as intelligent light indicators to indicate fever levels. They are likely to introduce smart technologies that allow the thermometer to be connected to an external mobile application via Bluetooth.

In-ear thermometers are more popular than forehead ones for measuring temperatures among pets. Due to the presence of fur and different sweat apparatus, forehead temperature scans are not proven to be helpful in veterinary medicine. However, in-ear and rectal temperatures have shown conflicting results. Thus, reliability remains a key challenge for the market.North America is expected to witness continued improvement, contributing to the highest incremental growth of $73.59 million by 2025. The evolving consumer confidence and technology is likely to increase the demand for non-contact thermometers in veterinary medicine.

The global infrared thermometer market size is undergoing major transformations. The demand is flourishing due to innovations and technological advancements. Therefore, global players are focusing on business expansion plans to increase the geographic reach of their products.

Global outreach efforts are particularly strong in many emerging economies of the APAC and MEA regions. Several infrared thermometer manufacturers in the US and Europe are beginning to design and manufacture their products locally. For instance, key players such as Medtronic, Braun, and Cardinal Health generate significant revenue from global sales. Hence, several large global players are willing to enter emerging markets to increase their sales volume and profit margins.

Prominent Vendors

Other Prominent Vendors

Key Questions Answered:

Key Topics Covered:

1 Research Methodology

2 Research Objectives

3 Research Process

4 Scope & Coverage4.1 Market Definition4.1.1 Inclusions4.1.2 Exclusion4.2 Base Year4.3 Scope Of The Study4.4 Market Segments4.4.1 Market Segmentation by Product Type4.4.2 Market Segmentation by Application4.4.3 Market Segmentation by Geography

5 Report Assumptions & Caveats5.1 Key Caveats5.2 Currency Conversion5.3 Market Derivation

6 Market at a Glance7 Introduction7.1 Overview

8 Impact Of Covid-198.1 Impact Of Covid-19 On Infrared Non-Contact Thermometer Market

9 Market Opportunities & Trends9.1 Growth In Medical Tourism9.2 New Product Development9.3 Growing Demand For Multifunction Non-Contact Thermometer

10 Market Growth Enablers10.1 Growing Prevalence Of Healthcare Acquired Infections10.2 Ban Of Traditional Mercury In Glass Thermometers10.3 Rising Expenditure On Preventive Healthcare

11 Market Restraints11.1 Availability of Innovative Temperature Monitoring Devices11.2 Stringent Regulatory Requirements

12 Market Landscape12.1 Market Overview12.2 Market Size & Forecast12.3 Five Forces Analysis12.3.1 Threat of New Entrants12.3.2 Bargaining Power of Suppliers12.3.3 Bargaining Power of Buyers12.3.4 Threat of Substitutes12.3.5 Competitive Rivalry

13 Product Type13.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine13.2 Market Overview13.3 Forehead13.3.1 Market Size & Forecast13.3.2 Market by Geography13.4 In-Ear13.4.1 Market Size & Forecast13.4.2 Market by Geography13.5 Multipurpose13.5.1 Market Size & Forecast13.5.2 Market by Geography

14 Application14.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine14.2 Market Overview

15 Veterinary15.1 Market Size & Forecast15.2 Market By Geography

16 Medical16.1 Market Size & Forecast16.2 Market By Geography16.3 Adult16.3.1 Market Size & Forecast16.3.2 Market by Geography16.4 Children16.4.1 Market Size & Forecast16.4.2 Market by Geography

17 Geography17.1 Market Snapshot & Growth Engine17.2 Geographic Overview

18 North America18.1 Market Overview18.2 Market Size & Forecast18.3 Product Type18.3.1 Market Size & Forecast18.4 Application18.4.1 Market Size & Forecast18.5 Key Countries18.5.1 US: Market Size & Forecast18.5.2 Canada: Market Size & Forecast

19 Latin America19.1 Market Overview19.2 Market Size & Forecast19.3 Product Type19.3.1 Market Size & Forecast19.4 Application19.4.1 Market Size & Forecast19.5 Key Countries19.5.1 Brazil: Market Size & Forecast19.5.2 Mexico: Market Size & Forecast

20 APAC20.1 Market Overview20.2 Market Size & Forecast20.3 Product Type20.3.1 Market Size & Forecast20.4 Application20.4.1 Market Size & Forecast20.5 Key Countries20.5.1 China: Market Size & Forecast20.5.2 Japan: Market Size & Forecast20.5.3 India: Market Size & Forecast

21 Europe21.1 Market Overview21.2 Market Size & Forecast21.3 Product Type21.3.1 Market Size & Forecast21.4 Application21.4.1 Market Size & Forecast21.5 Key Countries21.5.1 Germany: Market Size & Forecast21.5.2 France: Market Size & Forecast21.5.3 UK: Market Size & Forecast21.5.4 Italy: Market Size & Forecast21.5.5 Spain: Market Size & Forecast

22 Middle East & Africa22.1 Market Overview22.2 Market Size & Forecast22.3 Product Type22.3.1 Market Size & Forecast22.4 Application22.4.1 Market Size & Forecast22.5 Key Countries22.5.1 Saudi Arabia: Market Size & Forecast22.5.2 South Africa: Market Size & Forecast

23 Competitive Landscape23.1 Competition Overview

24 Key Company Profiles

25 Other Prominent Vendors

26 Report Summary26.1 Key Takeaways26.2 Strategic Recommendations

27 Quantitative Summary

28 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cjv74e

Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research.

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Global Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer Market (2020 to 2025) - Outlook and Forecast - Yahoo Finance UK

Cats can spread the new coronavirus to other cats without any of them ever having symptoms, a lab experiment suggests.

Scientists who led the work, reported on Wednesday, say it shows the need for more research into whether the virus can spread from people to cats to people again.

Health experts have downplayed that possibility. The American Veterinary Medical Association said in a new statement that just because an animal can be deliberately infected in a lab does not mean that it will easily be infected with that same virus under natural conditions.

Anyone concerned about that risk should use common sense hygiene, said virus expert Peter Halfmann. Dont kiss your pets and keep surfaces clean to cut the chances of picking up any virus an animal might shed, he said.

He and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine led the lab experiment and published results Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Federal grants paid for the work.

Researchers took coronavirus from a human patient and infected three cats with it. Each cat then was housed with another cat that was free of infection. Within five days, coronavirus was found in all three of the newly exposed animals.

None of the six cats ever showed any symptoms.

There was no sneezing, no coughing, they never had a high body temperature or lost any weight, Halfmann said. If a pet owner looked at them ... they wouldnt have noticed anything.

Last month, two domestic cats in different parts of New York state tested positive for the coronavirus after mild respiratory illnesses. They were thought to have picked it up from people in their homes or neighborhoods.

Some tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo also have tested positive for the virus, as have a small number of other animals around the world.

Those cases and the new lab experiment show there is a public health need to recognize and further investigate the potential chain of human-cat-human transmission, the authors wrote.

Guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that based on the limited information available so far, the risk of pets spreading coronavirus to people is considered to be low.

The veterinary medicine group says there is no evidence to suggest that animals, including pets, that may be incidentally infected by humans are playing a role in the spread of COVID-19. It stressed that person-to-person transmission was driving the global pandemic.

However, the group noted that many diseases spread between pets and people, so hygiene is always important: Wash your hands before and after touching pets, and keep your pet and its food and water bowls clean.

Halfmann, whose two cats sleep near him, said the worry may be greater for animal shelters, where one infected animal could pass the virus to many others.

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Cats with no symptoms spread virus to other cats in lab test - Lewiston Morning Tribune

captionA dog sniffs out a chicken on a tour of backyard coops in Orange County, California, in 2015.sourceMindy Schauer/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images

The staff at Murray McMurray Hatchery is exhausted.

The family-run business, based in Webster City, Iowa, sells rare chicken breeds, mostly to backyard farmers who raise them for eggs or to compete in shows.

Since the pandemic started, sales have doubled.

Even with six people manning the lines, the phones ring off the hook from 7 am to 6 at night, owner Tom Watkins says. He estimates his staff has taken an entire years worth of orders in just the past two months.

They want what they want right now, Watkins told Insider, and at this point, its probably too late.

The hatchery is sold out of chicks, he said, and will probably remain that way through at least August.

And its not just Murray McMurray. Hatcheries across the country have sold out in the wake of runaway demand, according to Mark Pogwaite, president of the American Poultry Association. Google searches for chicken coops have soared since March, according to People, and options continue to sell out online.

Its huge, from what I can see, Pogwaite said of demand. The feed stores cant keep chicks in, the catalogs cant keep up. It was like overnight, as soon as COVID-19 hit.

Sales at hatcheries often spike when theres economic uncertainty or rising food prices. When people are insecure about their financial future, they go back to the agrarian part of life, Watkins said.

Whats different this time, he added, is the number of first-time customers.

Watkins is doing his best to educate new buyers, but he and other breeders are worried that the boom in amateur chicken farmers could lead to outbreaks of dangerous poultry diseases.

If a virus spread to a commercial farm, it could interrupt the already strained food chain and cost millions of dollars.

In 2015, officials traced an outbreak of avian influenza in Iowa to a small backyard farm. Stopping its spread cost nearly $430 million and resulted in the destruction of 34 million birds across 77 farms, according to the Iowa Farm Bureau.

The outbreak also cost the nations largest egg-producing state nearly 8,500 jobs, and raised the prices of eggs and poultry for consumers nationwide for the next three years.

Another deadly poultry disease, Virulent Newcastle, has stubbornly resisted containment in Southern California for the past two years. Its found its way into backyard coops, too, making tracking and eradicating it especially difficult.

Commercial farms are inspected by the USDA and local public safety agencies. Authorities can detect outbreaks and react swiftly, ordering the destruction of infected birds and the monitoring of nearby farms.

But the government doesnt keep track of backyard chicken coops.

They represent a leaky channel by which contagion can spread undetected, according to Alan Rudolph, a biological researcher at Colorado State University.

And residential chicken farmers are less likely to maintain strict contamination protocols or check their birds for diseases, Rudolph said.

They might not even know what symptoms to look for. And that can be a real problem.

An outbreak in someones personal coop spreading to a major commercial farm could devastate the poultry industry, according to Brent Credille, a professor at the University of Georgias College of Veterinary Medicine.

And theres always the risk that an animal virus could mutate and infect humans. Thats what happened with avian flu and, experts believe, the novel coronavirus.

Infected birds are essentially virus factories while they are alive, Julie Gauthier, a poultry expert at the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, told Insider.

Theyre producing lots of virus and spreading it to other birds, the neighbors, and any other farms, she said.

The California Department of Food and Agriculture believes Newcastle has continued in Southern California because backyard farmers are ignoring orders to kill infected birds and stop buying new ones.

California teaches us that there can be a high enough density of backyard livestock that they can present hotspots that can lead to greater transmissibility, Rudolph said.

While the greatest risk is to other chickens, poultry can carry diseases that affect humans, too such as campylobacteriosis, E.Coli, and listeria.

On May 20, the CDC announced that it was investigating a 28-state outbreak of salmonella tied to backyard fowl.

Almost 100 people have been infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including 17 who required hospitalization. A third of those who got sick are children under 5, CNN reported.

Salmonella bacteria are often transmitted through tainted food, but experts believe this outbreak was spread through humans who failed to take adequate precautions with infected chickens and ducks. The CDC had to issue guidelines warning owners to stop nuzzling or kissing their chicks.

Its important that we consider the human health risks of bringing chickens home, Gauthier said. We need to realize that salmonella and chickens go together.

Credille recommends poultry hobbyists reach out to experienced farmers for help. Commercial farmers should welcome their interest, he said.

Its something we need to embrace to not be their enemy but be their friend, Credille said. If theyre interested in this and go in with their eyes wide open, it can be quite a successful venture and very rewarding.

Whether we help them or not, my guess is theyre going to do it anyway, he added.

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Backyard chicken farming is exploding right now. But experts warn it could lead to outbreaks of diseases that kill millions of birds and potentially...