Giant pandas, the international symbol of conservation, are one of the most loved species in the world.
A group of parasitic round worms are one of the main causes of mortality of giant pandas in the wild, and collectively infect more than 50 animal species worldwide.
Infection can damage the intestines and if the infection reaches the brain and eyes: will often result in death.
Dr Russ Morphew at Aberystwyth University, along with researchers at IBERS and Mr Iain Valentine RZSS Edinburgh Zoo look to identify how this deadly parasite responds to anti-parasitic drugs. More specifically, whether drug resistance is the cause of repeat infections in captive giant panda populations.
They hope that their findings will not only help to inform conservation strategies in captivity and across China’s giant panda reserves, but also that they could lead to improved control strategies to deal with infection in the future.
23-05-18 Up with a new content! Hello everyone! So happy to announce that this school year has finally come to an end! Hooray! I’m really glad for more hours of sleep, guilt-free binge watching and novels reading. No more impossible schedules and unending school deets. I’ll be posting more content maybe sooner or later, right now I will savour this moment of solitude and guilt-free feeling! :) How’s everyone doing? Please let me know! I’ll be happy to hear it out. Have a great day studybloggers!
ps. those are my notes from our Parasitology. :) goodbye nematodes, cestodes, trematodes and protozoa!
Look who I found in a dog fecal the other day: Giardiaspp!
We did the fecal because the dog had acute onset of profuse, foul-smelling, liquid diarrhea. In addition to the giardia, there’s also some motile rod-shaped and spirochete bacteria swimming around. These may or may not be contributing to the GI signs; some bacteria are normal inhabitants of the gut, others are pathogenic, and some can be both depending on strain or circumstances.
We treated with metronidazole and fenbendazole to kill the giardia, bland diet and maropitant to help with the diarrhea and GI discomfort, and probiotics to help reestablish the good GI flora that will also get killed by the antibiotic. The owner was also instructed in good hygiene and environmental disinfection practices to prevent re-infection and zoonotic transmission (the zoonotic risk is low given that different strains of Giardia typically infect dogs and people, but we don’t know if there are any immune compromised people in the household, so better safe than sorry).
The clinical signs quickly resolved, and the fecal was negative on follow-up.
((Sorry for the jumpy video; I had a hard time keeping these squiggly little dudes in focus and the phone lined up with the lenses at the same time ))
The feel when you haven’t done a pig fecal in forever, so you aren’t sure if that’s ~really~ roundworm ova (since they’re so much smaller than the ones from dog and cat roundworm), but the vet trusts your judgement and deworms for rounds – and then your findings are confirmed. So very much confirmed.
And on top of that, now you have a new jar for your parasite collection!
Heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) microfilaria in a fresh blood smear from a young dog recently adopted from a neglectful situation. He was also positive on his Idexx SNAP 4dx, which tests blood for an antigen from adult female heartworms. Fortunately he still looked healthy on clinical exam, so with treatment his prognosis is good.
Our clinic follows the American Heartworm Society treatment protocol:
Heartworms are much easier to prevent than treat! Options include monthly tablets/chews or topicals, or an injection that lasts 12 months. If your dog isn’t currently on heartworm prevention, please contact your vet about testing and getting on a prevention plan.
Last week we did our first blood transfusion in over a year! It was on a teeny hound puppy with anemia from fleas and hookworms. Luthien was our donor! Here she is showing off her clipped spot :)
Alas, I didn’t get permission to post pics of the pupper, but she did well between the transfusion, parasite control, and good supportive care. We’ll see her again soon for her vaccines and to continue with preventatives.
Finished coloured pencil illustration - portrait of a man with leishmaniasis - by @claire_carswell
This is mucocutaneous leishmaniasis - a neglected tropical disease caused by the trypanosome parasite Leishmania, spread through sandfly bites. There are different types of leishmaniasis, ranging from mostly cutaneous presentations, to visceral leishmaniasis - which causes liver failure and death. This disease is treatable, but because the vast majority of people who are impacted by it live in incredibly impoverished areas, too many people are disfigured, disabled or killed by it.
Something I wrote up before starting third year - it’s really been helping me to memorise parasite IDs and come to a diagnosis a bit quicker!!
As always if you guys have asks or just need a quick chat, feel free to message me - I love hearing from everyone <3 You can also find my youtube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l5zA9DuLfg
