Outreach Medicine as an Experiential Teaching Tool to Improve Veterinary Student and Client Education.

Outreach medicine is used to improve students' medical, technical, behavioral, and communication training among health professional schools; it is also used in veterinary schools, but little has been described on its educational impacts among pre-clinical veterinary students. Aiming to train practice-ready graduates, we established a monthly nonprofit vaccine clinic serving low-income clients to provide pre-clinical veterinary students with a realistic experiential learning environment. We developed surveys to assess the educational impacts of outreach medicine on pre-clinical veterinary student and client education. We received 101 student surveys, 26 educator (i.e., veterinarians and registered veterinary technicians) surveys, and 96 client surveys. Veterinarians, students, and technicians reported that students improved in important veterinary skills such as client communication, subcutaneous injection, patient handling, and physical examination. They also reported improved confidence in students' clinical decision making. Veterinarians valued the vaccine clinic as a favorable educational tool to teach behavior assessment and low-stress handling, and they highlighted that experiential learning via the vaccine clinic provided students with a clinical experience representative of most veterinarian practices (i.e., small animal general practitioner). Clients reported that the clinic's students and veterinarians greatly improved their knowledge of their pets' care and vaccines-notably, their knowledge of rabies and leptospirosis improved. Outreach medicine in the form of a vaccine clinic creates valuable experiential learning opportunities that increase veterinary student preparedness and complement didactic, laboratory, and case-based teaching.

Combination Anthelmintic Treatment for Persistent Ancylostoma caninum Ova Shedding in Greyhounds.

Ancylostoma caninum is a nematode of the canine gastrointestinal tract commonly referred to as hookworm. This study involved eight privately owned adult greyhounds presenting with persistent A. caninum ova shedding despite previous deworming treatments. The dogs received a combination treatment protocol comprising topical moxidectin, followed by pyrantel/febantel/praziquantel within 24 hr. At 7-10 days posttreatment, a fecal examination monitored for parasite ova. Dogs remained on the monthly combination treatment protocol until they ceased shedding detectable ova. The dogs then received only the monthly topical moxidectin maintenance treatment. The dogs remained in the study for 5-14 mo with periodical fecal examinations performed. During the study, three dogs reverted to positive fecal ova status, with two being associated with client noncompliance. Reinstitution of the combination treatment protocol resulted in no detectable ova. Use of monthly doses of combination pyrantel, febantel and moxidectin appears to be an effective treatment for nonresponsive or persistent A. caninum ova shedding. Follow-up fecal examinations were important for verifying the presence or absence of ova shedding despite the use of anthelmintic treatment. Limitations of the current study include small sample size, inclusion of only privately owned greyhounds, and client compliance with fecal collection and animal care.

Discovery and genomic characterization of noroviruses from a gastroenteritis outbreak in domestic cats in the US.

Norovirus (NoV) RNA was detected in the stools of 6 out 14 (42.8%) 8-12-week-old cats with enteritis from a feline shelter, in New York State. Upon sequence analysis of the complete capsid, the six NoVs were found to be identical, suggesting the spread of a unique NoV strain in the shelter. The full-length genomic sequence (7839 nt) of one feline NoV, CU081210E/2010/US, was determined. In the capsid protein VP1 region, the virus displayed the highest amino acid identity to animal genogroup IV genotype 2 (GIV.2) NoVs: lion/Pistoia-387/06/IT (97.9%) and dog/Bari-170/07/IT (90.4%). These findings document the discovery of a novel feline calicivirus, different from vesiviruses, and extend the spectrum of NoV host range. Epidemiological studies using feline NoV-specific diagnostic tools and experimental infection of cats are required to understand whether NoVs have a pathogenic role in this species.

Multicentric mast cell tumors in a horse.

A 6-year-old female Rocky Mountain horse was presented for evaluation of draining tracts and distal limb subcutaneous edema on the left front and left hind limbs that had been present for 2 weeks. Direct smears of fluid collected by fine-needle aspiration of subcutaneous fluid from both limbs were highly cellular with a predominance of eosinophils accompanied by numerous, moderately atypical, variably granulated mast cells. The cytologic diagnosis was mast cell tumor (MCT) with prominent eosinophilic infiltration with a differential diagnosis of eosinophilic granuloma. Histologic evaluation of surgical biopsies of lesions from both limbs was performed on sections stained with H&E, toluidine blue, and Luna stains. The histologic diagnosis was MCT, and staining with toluidine blue and Luna stains confirmed the presence of mast cells and eosinophils, respectively. In addition, the mast cells strongly expressed CD117. This is the first reported case of cutaneous mast cell neoplasia in a horse in which primary presenting complaints were draining tracts and distal limb subcutaneous edema involving multiple limbs. This case illustrates the utility of staining for CD117 expression in combination with traditional stains, such as toluidine blue and Luna, in differentiating MCTs from other eosinophilic lesions in horses.