UW Labs Collaborate to Process Thousands of COVID-19 Tests, Deal With Supply Shortages

Posted on The Badger Herald
Director of the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Keith Poulsen spoke about the importance of taking a “One Health” perspective in collaborating human and animal health to combat obstacles in COVID-19 testing.  WVDL and WSHL are beginning to work on collaborative research to better understand the future and present impacts of COVID-19 on the population.

COVID-19 Virus Samples in Dane, Milwaukee Counties Differ, UW Genetic Sequencing Reveals

Posted on Wisconsin State Journal
Most COVID-19 viruses sequenced from Dane County patients appear to come from Europe, while Milwaukee-area samples stem from Asia, according to preliminary genetic sequencing data by UW-Madison researchers. “There’s not much mixing between the two locations,” Thomas Friedrich, a UW-Madison professor of pathobiological sciences, said during a Wisconsin Alumni Association presentation Wednesday night.

Student’s Pug First U.S. Dog to Test Positive for COVID-19

Posted on The Dartmouth
Director of the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Sandra Newbury, who has been conducting research on how COVID-19 impacts animals, stressed that the news is no reason to panic. “We really don’t want people to freak out in general,” Newbury said. “In fact, it looks like dogs are not very good hosts for the virus … Most dogs that have tested positive have been asymptomatic.”

Flu ‘Backbone’ Headstart for COVID Vaccine Development: Krishna Ella

Posted on Daiji World
CoroFlu, being developed under an international collaboration, is built on the backbone of FluGen’s flu vaccine candidate known as M2SR. Based on an invention by the University of Wisconsin-Madison virologists and FluGen co-founders Yoshihiro Kawaoka and Gabriele Neumann, M2SR is a self-limiting version of the influenza virus that induces an immune response against the flu.

Shelters Feel Pressure of Pandemic

Posted on JAVMA
During an April 2 webinar on the guidelines, Dr. Sandra Newbury, head of the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, encouraged pet owners to treat their animal companions the same as any family member by preventing their exposure to people infected with the COVID-19 virus.

The Revolving Door Of Disease Between Humans And Animals

Posted on WisContext
Charting the animal origins of human diseases like COVID-19 can be difficult and often leads to unexpected discoveries, says Dr. Tony Goldberg, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine. During a January 29, 2020 presentation at the Wednesday Nite @ the Lab lecture series on the UW-Madison campus, Goldberg recounted the growing body of research into pathogen transmission between animals and humans over the past three decades.

Toceranib: A Weapon Against Apocrine Gland Anal Sac Tumors in Dogs?

Posted on dvm360
In a retrospective study recently published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine,11 investigators at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine reviewed their hospital medical records (2009-2019) for dogs receiving toceranib as either sole or adjuvant treatment (with surgery or non-concurring chemotherapy) for cytologically or histologically diagnosed AGASACA.

UW Begins Plasma Transfusion Treatments for COVID-19 Patients

Posted on The Badger Herald
Consequently, UW professor of pathobiological sciences and zoonotic disease expert Kristen Bernard said researchers rely on the empirical data obtained from previous pandemics—many of which differ greatly from COVID-19—to draw up potential treatment options for the rapidly-spreading disease—and blood transfusions are a historically successful method.

After Some Cats Test Positive, CDC Says Social Distancing Applies to Pets Too

Posted on ABC News
Dr. Sandra Newbury, director of the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Wisconsin has been conducting studies on how the virus affects animals and was not surprised by the news of the two felines. “Cats have a particular receptor and we suspected early on that they might be able to be infected,” said Newbury. “We think it is more difficult to infect dogs and our experimental studies have proven just that.”