The persistence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in wild and domestic birds through the summer months points to a likely rise in cases this fall, according to Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Director Keith Poulsen.
veterinary medicine
Gene-edited monkey embryos give researchers new way to study HIV cure
A gene that cured a man of HIV a decade ago has been successfully added to developing monkey embryos in an effort to study more potential treatments for the disease.
First relatives of rubella virus discovered in bats in Uganda and mice in Germany
Neither of the new viruses is known to infect people, but the findings reinforce the important work scientists are undertaking to study the effects of a changing environment on human and animal diseases.
New vaccine strategy harnesses ‘foot soldier’ T-cells to provide protection against influenza
Researchers believe the same approach can be applied to several other respiratory pathogens, including the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Hamsters develop protective immunity to COVID-19 and are protected by convalescent sera
The animals are useful to researchers trying to understand SARS-CoV-2 and in the evaluation of vaccines, treatments and drugs against the disease it causes.
Study confirms cats can become infected with and may transmit COVID-19 to other cats
Researchers advise that people with symptoms avoid contact with cats, and cat owners should keep their pets indoors to limit contact with other people and animals.
UW–Madison researchers lead efforts to understand, thwart new coronavirus
Within the next few weeks, an interdisciplinary team of UW scientists hopes to begin studies of 2019-nCoV to “erect more barriers to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.”
Scout’s Super Bowl story is a viral hit
A 7-year-old Golden Retriever named Scout and UW–Madison’s School of Veterinary Medicine are already stealing the show in the run-up to the Super Bowl. Scout’s story, in the form of a 30-second commercial for WeatherTech, has already received an overwhelming reaction since it was first released on Tuesday.
Hibernating Squirrels and the Government Shutdown
Hannah Carey’s lab studies how hibernating squirrels slow their metabolisms to fall into their seasonal torpor — and then speed it back up to go about their squirrel lives during the warm months. Her work could help humans extreme in extreme conditions. But the trick to studying hibernation is that happens when it happens, and disrupting scheduled research for an unscheduled government shutdown — as Carey, a comparative bioscience professor, explains in Scientific American — could cost taxpayers the fruits of the science they’re funding.
Discovery opens new opportunities to slow or reverse MS
Nerve cells stripped of their insulation can no longer carry vital information, leading to the numbness, weakness and vision problems often associated with multiple sclerosis. A new study shows an overlooked source may be able to replace that lost insulation.