An estimated 30,000 people in the U.S. are living with Cystic Fibrosis (CF), a fatal genetic disease, according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation patient registry. CF can affect many parts of the body, but it primarily impairs lung function. The lungs in a person with CF are colonized and infected by bacteria from a young age due to poor mucus clearance, which results in chronic inflammation. This makes them susceptible to various infections, and seasonal influenza viruses in particular present a huge risk. When CF patients contract influenza, it can cause severe, sometimes life-threatening symptom exacerbations, making their lungs vulnerable to additional bacteria. Currently, winter CF exacerbations are difficult to…

To prevent the spread of infection and disease, dairy cattle farmers separate calves from each other for approximately six weeks until they are weaned from milk. Though beneficial to health, this practice may hinder calves’ social and cognitive development as well as lead to abnormal habits. Young calves sometimes display excessive sucking and licking behaviors, often directed toward inappropriate sources such as the enclosure or another calf. As they progress through life, the behaviors can become quite exaggerated and harmful, said Dr. Katy Proudfoot, assistant professor in Veterinary Preventive Medicine and extension specialist in animal welfare and behavior at The Ohio State University. Letting calves feed naturally rather than from a…

Raw pet food has a growing consumer base, says Paulynne Bellen, third-year veterinary student at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, but the food may not come without health risks. One concern is that raw pet food can sometimes carry a bacterium called Listeria monocytogenes, among other foodborne bacteria, since it does not go through the cooking and steaming processes that dry pet food does. If ingested, L. monocytogenes can cause more extreme symptoms than E. coli, such as infection, fever, gastrointestinal problems and sometimes death. The bacterium can survive in low temperatures and in the presence or absence of oxygen, which is how it likely gets into…

Dylan Burroughs, second-year student at The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, is working on some of the world’s first research on Feline bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC), a form of lung cancer. The best method for researchers to study BAC without running tests on a cat is to use a live model of the cancer, called a cell line. Worldwide, there is only one feline BAC cell line available, so he and his mentor Dr. Gwendolen Lorch, assistant professor at Ohio State in Veterinary Clinical Sciences, had to wait a while to acquire it for their research. The team used the cell line to test different concentrations of drugs and how they…

Up to five students in The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Summer Research Program are chosen each summer to be supported for international research to work on projects in various parts of the world. Second-year veterinary student Sarah Waibel is spending her summer in Gondar, Ethiopia, to continue the “Rabies Elimination Outreach Project,” which has been funded by Ohio State’s Outreach and Engagement since 2013. Ethiopia has the world’s second-highest human rabies incident rate, which makes it a One Health global preference location to help address and eliminate the disease. In the U.S. it is commonplace to have our pets vaccinated for rabies – an effort that has…

Two Ohio State veterinary students, Alexander Diedrich and Marisa Maglaty, are inspecting genes that are scientifically correlated with the development of various cancers. Irregular cell cycles, such as the loss of control over cell growth or cell death, underlie many human and animal cancers. Maglaty is studying the gene E2F8, a member of a larger family of genes called E2F, which is vital to coordinating progression through the cell cycle. E2F8 differs in structure from other E2F genes, Maglaty said, and she and her team are marking its locations throughout the cell cycle using a mouse model. This technique allows for observation of which genes and proteins E2F8 directly interacts…