Cardiovascular Diseases in Pet Birds: Therapeutic Options and Challenges.

Cardiovascular disease, including congestive heart failure, pericardial disease, and atherosclerosis, is becoming increasingly better recognized in companion birds. A wide range of medications is available to treat these conditions, including diuretics, vasodilators, positive and negative inotropes, antiarrhythmic agents, and pentoxifylline. This review systematically discusses each of these drug classes and their potential applications in avian species. Although treatment approaches remain largely empirical and extrapolated from small animal and human medicine, the management strategies presented here have the potential to both maintain quality of life and extend survival time for the avian cardiac patient.

Naming racism in the public health classroom.

OBJECTIVE: The discussion of racism within undergraduate public health classrooms can be highly influenced by local and national conversations about race. We explored the impact of local and national events on students' ability to name racism on a public health exam highlighting the impact of racism on maternal and infant health disparities for Black mothers. METHODS: We undertook this research within the context of an undergraduate introductory public health course at a primarily white institution in the Northeastern part of the United States. A qualitative content analysis of undergraduate student responses to a final exam question soliciting the importance of racism to health outcomes among Black mothers in the United States was undertaken. ANOVA tests were run to assess differences on naming racism, using semantic alternatives, and providing alternative explanations during three main time periods: prior to the election of the 45th president of the United States (pre-Trump), after the election (post-Trump), and after a nationally recognized racist campus incident. RESULTS: Between the pre- and post-Trump periods we see no differences in naming racism or providing alternative explanations. We do see a reduction in the proportion of students providing semantic alternatives for racism in the post-Trump period (32.2 vs. 25.2%, p = 0.034). After the racist campus incident, we see increases in the proportion of students naming race (53.6 vs. 73.8%, p = 0.021) and decreases in the proportion providing an alternative explanation (43.1 vs. 12.9%, p = 0.004), but no differences in the proportion of students who used semantic alternatives. DISCUSSION: This work lends itself to our understanding of how local climate affects public health teaching and may also influence students' learning about important social and structural determinants of health. National and local climate should frame and guide public health teaching.

Cardiovascular Drugs in Avian, Small Mammal, and Reptile Medicine.

Cardiovascular disease, including congestive heart failure, pericardial disease, and atherosclerosis, is becoming increasingly better recognized in companion birds, small mammals, and reptiles. A wide range of medications is available to treat these conditions, including diuretics, vasodilators, positive and negative inotropes, antiarrhythmic agents, and pentoxifylline. This review systematically discusses each of these drug classes and their potential applications in exotic species. Although treatment approaches remain largely empirical and extrapolated from small animal and human medicine, the management strategies presented here have the potential to both maintain quality of life and extend survival time for the exotic cardiac patient.

Diagnosis and Surgical Repair of an Acute Abdominal Wall Hernia and Partial Cloacal Strangulation in a Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot (Amazona auropalliata).

A 38-year-old female, intact yellow-naped Amazon parrot (Amazona auropalliata) presented with an acute swelling along the ventrocaudal body wall, hematochezia, and tenesmus. Physical examination identified a defect in the ventral body wall. Bimodal pain management was initiated at presentation and hematochezia and tenesmus resolved. Radiographic imaging and contrast fluoroscopy identified a partial cloacal strangulation. An exploratory celiotomy was performed. Adhesions to the body wall were identified and broken down, the cloacal position was corrected, and the abdominal musculature repaired. Contrast fluoroscopy performed 72 hours after surgery confirmed normal positioning of the cloaca. Follow-up examinations documented proper postoperative healing of the hernia repair and maintenance of visibly normal passage of droppings. Although various abdominal hernias have been described in birds, this case demonstrates an unreported variation involving partial cloacal strangulation in a parrot.

Laboratory reporting accuracy of polymerase chain reaction testing for avian polyomavirus.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays are available for detection of birds infected with avian polyomavirus (APV). Several laboratories offer this diagnostic assay in the United States, but little information is available regarding assay sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy. In this study, known APV-positive and APV-negative samples (each n = 10, 5 undiluted and 5 diluted) were sent to 5 commercial laboratories. A significant difference in reporting accuracy was found among laboratories, most notably for dilute APV-positive samples. Two out of 5 laboratories provided 100% accurate results, 1 had an accuracy of 90%, and 2 reported 80% and 75% accuracy, respectively. The accuracies of the last 2 laboratories were negatively affected by test sensitivities of 60% and 50%, respectively. These findings show that although accurate results were reported by most laboratories, both false-positive and false-negative results were reported by at least 3 laboratories, and false-negative results reported for dilute APV-positive samples predominated. These study findings illustrate a need for veterinary diagnostic laboratories to institute improved voluntary quality control measures.