In The News

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more deer and warmer weather are making mosquito and tick populations rise across the country. And the diseases these pests can carry have tripled in the United States between 2004 and 2016. Ticks are driving that increase in illness. "We have seen an increase in the types of tick-borne pathogens. So this is very real," cautioned Lyric Bartholomay, associate professor in School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

According to Dr. Theresa Ollivett, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, the most vital part of calf care is the team that cares for the calves. Ollivett shared her thoughts with dairy producers in attendance at the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin (PDPW) Business Conference March 15 at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin. “If we can hire the right people and train them appropriately, and monitor what they are doing, the calves will take care of themselves,” Ollivett said.

Tony Goldberg, professor of pathobiological sciences at the UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, discusses an outbreak of rhinovirus C in chimpanzees in Uganda.

The young bulldog mix who was shot in the head and left for dead was taken off restricted activity on March 21, about 8½ weeks after undergoing surgery to repair his broken ulna at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine in Madison. “He's doing wonderfully well,” said Northwoods Animal Shelter Manager Sarah Erickson.

Calving season is upon us, and I have heard several reports of farmers having issues with heavy E.coli infections this year. Dr. Shelia McGuirk, DVM with the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, offers this great advice about managing the young calf.

The School of Veterinary Medicine said it is still working to fundraise and spread awareness about its Animals Need Heroes Too campaign. Friday's canceled University of Wisconsin-Madison's Spring Football game was a fundraiser for the project. "In the end, it's about doing things to get our story out and I think that's still happening," said Mark Markel, Dean for the School of Veterinary Medicine.

For the people of Sierra Leone, the Ebola outbreak of 2013 is more than just a memory. "The whole country was impacted, the economy, everything was shut down because of Ebola, and things are now just beginning to come back to normalcy," says Alhaji N'jai. "The lingering effect is still there."

N'jai is a research fellow in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Department of Department of Pathobiological Sciences. With his help, the next Ebola outbreak may not be so devastating. He’s one of the researchers developing a new Ebola vaccine at UW-Madison. The vaccine is set to enter clinical trials in Japan in December.

Some may have come to experience an udder dissection, but along the way the high school students at the annual Youth Leadership Derby presented by the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin also learned leadership, communication and other skills.

Worldwide, about 23% of dairy cattle experience lameness issues, with three types of hoof lesions causing most of those problems, says University of Wisconsin veterinarian Nigel Cook. Cook recently provided an overview titled “Lifestep – a lesion-oriented approach to solving lameness problems” in a webinar hosted by the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council (DCWC). He says digital dermatitis, sole ulcers and white line disease cause most lameness issues in dairies.