Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are the most common infectious disease in dogs, affecting approximately 14 percent of dogs during their lifetime. UTIs are commonly caused by E. coli, Streptococcus, Proteus, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas in dogs. Due to the short doubling time of these pathogens, they can evolve rapidly in response to environmental stresses, whether it…
With the advancement of technologies such as CRISPR and CAR-T therapies, there has been a significant increase in the development and production of biologic drugs, Advanced Therapeutic Medicinal Products (ATMP) and Cell and Gene Therapies (CGT). Single-use manufacturing has provided for a large degree of flexibility in terms of production volumes but have also brought…
AMR Organisms in Pet Food People often refer to their cats and dogs as part of the family. The bonds shared between companion animals and humans is very close and just like the bonds between family members, many things are shared, potentially including multi-drug resistant bacteria. The rise in multi-drug resistant microorganisms extends beyond a…
In the latest issue of the Pathologist, Dr. Jack Regan discusses the strategic priorities and technologies that could prevent the next global pandemic: Our inability to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2 has largely been due to the lack of sufficient surveillance and diagnostic infrastructure – including better point-of-care testing. Arguably, our failure to adequately prepare…
Contamination control of bioprocessing cell lines is essential. The same environments that encourage desirable microbiological growth also encourage growth of undesirable contaminants including yeasts, molds, mycoplasma, bacteria, and viruses.
Diagnostic testing is an important tool that veterinarians use to understand the cause and seriousness of a disease. Traditionally, this involved a trade-off between speed or accuracy, but improvements in qPCR testing are bringing point-of-care molecular diagnostics into practical use.
Making qPCR molecular diagnostics accessible at point-of-care changed how we detect and treat major infectious diseases.
Careful evaluation of a patient’s medical history, their clinical symptoms, and consultation of available diagnostic test results are essential components of implementing an effective antimicrobial stewardship program at a veterinary clinic.
On-site qPCR testing lets veterinarians make better treatment decisions, faster, than waiting on culture and sensitivity testing from a reference lab.
Veterinary Antimicrobial Stewardship (AS) programs are critical to not only improve patient outcomes, but support global action against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Pandemic containment in the United States is ineffective due to a lack of preparation and deployment of modern pathogen-detection technologies. Improved point-of-care molecular diagnostics will save lives when the next pandemic emerges.
Overuse of antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine contributes to the spread of resistance genes which undermine our ability to prevent or treat infectious disease.
