Canine distemper and Paget’s disease: zoonotic?
I came across a brief report in a local Michigan paper (thanks to the internet) of an outbreak of distemper in Manistee County, Michigan. The short report said that “Police said they’ve recently shot at least a dozen foxes and raccoons wandering around backyards and golf courses. A local veterinarian was reported to have said…
Is Your Dog Over 60?
Dogs age more rapidly than humans, especially large breed dogs, and it is thought that one year to a human can be as many as seven years biologically for a pet dog. For example, if your dog is eight years of age, in “human years” your pet is approaching his sixties. The life expectancy of…
Mine is 5.68 – what is yours?
I’m talking about my carbon footprint, of course, which I just had calculated for me by British Gas, and I thought I’d share it with you. It is actually the carbon footprint for my household, which I found out is a bit above the British household average (5.1 tonnes per year). I also found out…
How Green are Biofuels?
Palm oil and ethanol from maize and wheat may contribute to energy security, but are counterproductive in limiting climate change.”
Only 2 Days Left until World Rabies Day 2008!
Organisations around the world will be aiming to raise awareness and understanding about the importance of rabies prevention on the second annual World Rabies Day on 28 September. The Alliance for Rabies Control (ARC) is leading World Rabies Day (WRD) initiative, which is sponsored by numerous human and animal health organizations worldwide too. Its aim…
Hospital Food Anyone?
There’s a new virus spreading around geriatric wards of the UK’s National Health Service and it’s got hospital managers quaking in their pinstriped suits. Even more worrying than MRSA, this infectious little viral is set to infect the elderly, making them – and their carers – proactive.
Climate Change – What Will Happen to Weeds and Diseases?
Much attention has focused on what plants will be able to grow where as the effects of climate change are felt. A key factor that plays into that analysis is what effect climate change will have on diseases and weeds.Two new papers in CAB Reviews look at those two elements and show that that the…
World Tourism Day focuses on climate change
For those of us living in the UK, there hasn’t been much sign of global warming this year as we head into the autumn seemingly without ever having had a summer. Nevertheless, the overwhelming consensus is that climate change is a reality, and that we will all have to adapt accordingly. With tourism one of…
New Video: Water Wars or Water Woes?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Emhgb_8ZwA&hl=nl&fs=1] In the new video ‘Water Wars or Water Woes? Water Management as Conflict Management’ Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) Director Geoff Dabelko explains that although newspapers and politicians constantly warn of impending “water wars,” water rarely leads to interstate violence. By focusing on “water wars,” which evidence shows are extremely rare, we…
Invaders – the good, the bad and the ugly…
Not all invasive species are bad, and in the case of plants it seems that they usually increase biodiversity rather than making native plants extinct. A recent article in PNAS by Dov Sax, an ecologist at Brown University and Steven Gaines, a marine biologist at the University of California, investigates how species invasions and extinction…