Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM)
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The Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine is a two-state, three-campus professional school operated by the land-grant universities of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg and the University of Maryland at College Park. In addition to the main campus installation at Virginia Tech, the College also operates the Avrum Gudelsky Veterinary Center at College Park, and the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg.
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Browsing Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine (VMCVM) by Subject "0502 Environmental Science and Management"
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- Antibiotic Use on Goat Farms: An Investigation of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Missouri Goat FarmersLandfried, Lauren K.; Barnidge, Ellen K.; Pithua, Patrick; Lewis, Roger D.; Jacoby, Jonathan A.; King, Christopher C.; Baskin, Carole R. (MDPI, 2018-11-01)Use of low dose, prophylactic antibiotics contributes to the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In one study, goat meat in Missouri was found to have a higher percentage of antibiotic residues at slaughter than the national average, so we attempted to identify factors related to goat production that may contribute to this issue. Using the knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAB) model, we interviewed 11 Missouri goat farmers about factors affecting antibiotic use. Most of the farmers did not have specific protocols for managing illnesses and only relied on veterinarians for major health issues. Many felt veterinarians lacked knowledge about goat medicine so instead relied on other farmers’ or their own experiences for treatment modalities. While most agreed that antibiotic resistance was a concern, only 4 of the 11 indicated that they only used antibiotics when prescribed by the veterinarian. Veterinarians should be relied on and valued for their medical expertise, but they are not always being utilized in this manner. Therefore, veterinary education should emphasize goat health management to a greater extent than it currently does, and soft skills to build collaborative relationships with farmers should be taught to promote preventative health measures and more judicious use of antibiotics.
- COVID-19 Reveals Vulnerabilities of the Food–Energy–Water Nexus to Viral PandemicsCalder, Ryan S. D.; Grady, Caitlin; Jeuland, Marc; Kirchhoff, Christine J.; Hale, Rebecca L.; Muenich, Rebecca L. (American Chemical Society, 2021)Food, energy, and water (FEW) sectors are inextricably linked, making one sector vulnerable to disruptions in another. Interactions between FEW systems, viral pandemics, and human health have not been widely studied. We mined scientific and news/media articles for causal relations among FEW and COVID-19 variables and qualitatively characterized system dynamics. Food systems promoted the emergence and spread of COVID-19, leading to illness and death. Major supply-side breakdowns were avoided (likely due to low morbidity/mortality among working-age people). However, COVID-19 and physical distancing disrupted labor and capital inputs and stressed supply chains, while creating economic insecurity among the already vulnerable poor. This led to demand-side FEW insecurities, in turn increasing susceptibility to COVID-19 among people with many comorbidities. COVID-19 revealed trade-offs such as allocation of water to hygiene versus to food production and disease burden avoided by physical distancing versus disease burden from increased FEW insecurities. News/media articles suggest great public interest in FEW insecurities triggered by COVID-19 interventions among individuals with low COVID-19 case-fatality rates. There is virtually no quantitative analysis of any of these trade-offs or feedbacks. Enhanced quantitative FEW and health models are urgently needed as future pandemics are likely and may have greater morbidity and mortality than COVID-19.
- Repurposing celecoxib as a topical antimicrobial agentThangamani, Shankar; Younis, Waleed; Seleem, Mohamed N. (Frontiers, 2015-07-28)There is an urgent need for new antibiotics and alternative strategies to combat multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens, which are a growing clinical issue. Repurposing existing approved drugs with known pharmacology and toxicology is an alternative strategy to accelerate antimicrobial research and development. In this study, we show that celecoxib, a marketed inhibitor of cyclooxygenase-2, exhibits broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive pathogens from a variety of genera, including Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Listeria, Bacillus, and Mycobacterium, but not against Gram-negative pathogens. However, celecoxib is active against all of the Gram-negative bacteria tested, including strains of, Acinetobacter, and Pseudomonas, when their intrinsic resistance is artificially compromised by outer membrane permeabilizing agents such as colistin. The effect of celecoxib on incorporation of radioactive precursors into macromolecules in Staphylococcus aureus was examined. The primary antimicrobial mechanism of action of celecoxib was the dose-dependent inhibition of RNA, DNA, and protein synthesis. Further, we demonstrate the in vivo efficacy of celecoxib in a methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infected Caenorhabditis elegans whole animal model. Topical application of celecoxib (1 and 2%) significantly reduced the mean bacterial count in a mouse model of MRSA skin infection. Further, celecoxib decreased the levels of all inflammatory cytokines tested, including tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin-6, interleukin-1 beta, and monocyte chemo attractant protein-1 in wounds caused by MRSA infection. Celecoxib also exhibited synergy with many conventional antimicrobials when tested against four clinical isolates of S. aureus. Collectively, these results demonstrate that celecoxib alone, or in combination with traditional antimicrobials, has a potential to use as a topical drug for the treatment of bacterial skin infections.
- Strength Lies in Diversity: How Community Diversity Limits Salmonella Abundance in the Chicken IntestinePedroso, Adriana A.; Lee, Margie D.; Maurer, John J. (Frontiers, 2021-06-15)The transfer of the intestinal microbiota from adult to juvenile animals reduces Salmonella prevalence and abundance. The mechanism behind this exclusion is unknown, however, certain member species may exclude or promote pathogen colonization and Salmonella abundance in chickens correlates with intestinal community composition. In this study, newly hatched chicks were colonized with Salmonella Typhimurium and 16S rRNA libraries were generated from the cecal bacterial community at 21, 28, 35, and 42 days of age. Salmonella was quantified by real-time PCR. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were assigned, and taxonomic assignments were made, using the Ribosomal Database Project. Bacterial diversity was inversely proportional to the Salmonella abundance in the chicken cecum (p < 0.01). In addition, cecal communities with no detectable Salmonella (exclusive community) displayed an increase in the abundance of OTUs related to specific clostridial families (Ruminococcaceae, Eubacteriaceae, and Oscillospiraceae), genera (Faecalibacterium and Turicibacter) and member species (Ethanoligenens harbinense, Oscillibacter ruminantium, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii). For cecal communities with high Salmonella abundance (permissive community), there was a positive correlation with the presence of unclassified Lachnospiraceae, clostridial genera Blautia and clostridial species Roseburia hominis, Eubacterium biforme, and Robinsoniella peoriensis. These findings strongly support the link between the intestinal bacterial species diversity and the presence of specific member species with Salmonella abundance in the chicken ceca. Exclusive bacterial species could prove effective as direct-fed microbials for reducing Salmonella in poultry while permissive species could be used to predict which birds will be super-shedders.