Alumni News

Dr. Douglas Kratt, immediate past president American Veterinary Medical Association talks about zoonosis (illness we can get from animals) when visiting state fairs or other events. And emergency response and your pets; Dr. Kratt offers tips on disaster preparation. And we discuss dogs who may get sick from mushrooms or algae blooms in ponds or streams.

Dr. Marie Bucko, a veterinarian, said it's important to first ask yourself if bringing your pet on your next trip is what's best for them. "Your pets are part of the family so it's understandable that you would want to bring them on a family trip," Bucko said in an interview with ABC News. "Sometimes it's not so simple and there's a lot to think about before bringing pets on vacation with us."

Similar to the vaccines for humans, State Veterinarian Dr. Darlene Konkle said the vaccine for mink was approved by federal officials for experimental use because of the threat presented by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. "So we don't have a lot of data yet on efficacy. But to have a vaccine available at all I think is a positive thing. We want to be able to have for mink farms any tool available to prevent the mink from being exposed," Konkle said.

Mary Thurber, clinical instructor in zoological medicine at UW-Madison and Vilas’ primary veterinarian, said zookeepers continue to take precautions around animals potentially at risk of contracting COVID-19, including wearing facemasks. Veterinary staff have plenty of experience vaccinating animals at Vilas, she said, as it’s common to protect them against diseases such as rabies, distemper and the West Nile virus. “Our great apes do often receive some of the same vaccines humans do since they have some of the same susceptibilities,” Thurber said. “They’ll get vaccines like tetanus, sometimes we’ll do influenza vaccines for the great apes.”