When Phoebe, a 23-month-old cat from Missouri, took a few nibbles of a lily plant, her owners didn’t think a thing. Unfortunately neither Phoebe nor her owners were aware of the dire consequences that would ensue. Lilies are highly toxic to cats when ingested, and if not treated immediately can be fatal in as little as 72 hours. Lily poisoning, particularly from plants of the Lilium or Hemerocallis genera, causes rapid kidney failure. Once Phoebe’s owners, Michael and Christina Weller, noticed how sick their cat was acting, they took her to their local veterinarian, who referred them to the University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center. This is where they were informed…

Dr. Estelle Cormet-Boyaka, associate professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences, and Dr. Amal Amer, an associate professor at the College of Medicine, have received a $2.55 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for their research on Cystic Fibrosis (CF). An estimated 30,000 people in the U.S. are living with CF, a fatal genetic disease, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation patient registry. CF can affect multiple parts of the body, but primarily impairs lung function. The lungs in a person with CF are colonized with bacteria from a young age due to poor mucus clearance, which results in chronic inflammation. This makes them susceptible to various bacterial infections,…

Drs. Stefan Niewiesk, Jianrong Li and Krista La Perle, all faculty members at the College of Veterinary Medicine, are working with researchers from the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at Nationwide Children’s Hospital to develop a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). This is possible due to a $6.75 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. RSV is one of the most common causes of lower respiratory tract infections in human infants, with 3.4 million cases annually leading to hospitalization in children under 5, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine. Currently, there is no RSV vaccine available. Studies have shown that RSV…

Dr. Li Wu, professor in the Department of Veterinary Biosciences and in the Center for Microbial Interface Biology at the Wexner Medical Center, and his research team are dedicated to developing more effective strategies to combat HIV infection. Their research is partially supported by a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health. HIV and TB infections are the world’s most fatal infectious diseases, according to the World Health Organization. Across the globe, nearly 37 million people are currently living with HIV and in 2014, 1.2 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses. About 5,500 people contract HIV infection each day, but HIV basic research holds promise in eradicating this devastating disease.…

A team from The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital was recently announced the winner of the 2015 CLARITY Undiagnosed Challenge, a global crowd-sourcing competition in which medical teams employ genomics to solve featured medical cases. The goal was to decipher DNA sequences and provide information to five families whose genetic conditions have continuously eluded diagnosis. The winning team from Nationwide Children’s Hospital comprised genomic researchers, bioinformaticians, big data informatics experts, genetic counselors, medical geneticists and clinicians, and included 2012 graduate of Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Don Corsmeier, a postdoctoral research scientist at Nationwide Children’s Biomedical Genomics Core. 26 teams from seven countries entered the competition. One advantage…

The health issues of captive black rhinoceros aren’t too far off from human health problems, a recently published study reveals. According to its findings, captive black rhinos are at a much higher risk for metabolic conditions such as inflammation and insulin resistance than rhinos that live in the wild. The study, published in General and Comparative Endocrinology, was authored by Dr. Pam Dennis, clinical assistant professor in Veterinary Preventive Medicine, and veterinary epidemiologist at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo along with her research team. They analyzed blood samples from 86 captive rhinos and 120 wild rhinos, and in all cases the captive animals’ blood had more markers for disease. The species is critically…

The story of Quasimodo, a 3-year-old dog born with deformed front legs, shows the profound compassion that humans can have for companion animals. Due to his dysfunctional front legs, Quasi had to crawl to get around. His first owner decided to leave him on the side of the road in August 2014, after which he was brought to an animal shelter by a kind stranger. His new owner, Lianne Hughes, was fostering Quasi when she started raising money for the surgery that could correct his legs. Hughes was able to collect $5,000 from various people, including some whom she had never even met, and Quasi was taken to Ohio State’s Veterinary…

Many people know that diseases can be transmitted from animals to humans, but few consider the risks correlated with household pets. That’s why researchers from Ohio State and partner institutions have compiled data from more than 500 studies to obtain information on how people can reduce their chances of contracting infections from a pet. Dr. Jason Stull, assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, is a lead author of the newly released study, published April 20 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Stull said that bacterial, parasitic and fungal diseases, such as salmonella or roundworms are among the most common illnesses that people acquire from their pets. People with…