In addition to its teaching, healing and research missions, the College of Veterinary Medicine plays an integral role in safeguarding Missouri’s animal agriculture and public health.
NEWS
MU Tracking Spread of Bird Flu, One Test at a Time
MU Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab helps identify avian influenza among Missouri poultry. Throughout the country, an extremely infectious disease called highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been circulating rapidly among flocks of chicken and turkeys.While the disease poses little risk to humans, it presents a serious threat to infected birds as well as the nation’s poultry industry, which is already facing supply chain disruptions. At the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine, the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) is on the frontlines, tracking the disease and alerting veterinary officials to confirmed cases of the virus in poultry. When the…
CVM Participates in Large Multi-center Congestive Heart Failure Trial
The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine is participating in a large multi-center clinical trial that focuses on treating dogs experiencing heart failure. The trial is titled, “Clinical Field Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness and Safety of Torsemide Compared to Furosemide for the Treatment of Pulmonary Edema Related to Congestive Heart Failure.” The CVM and approximately 20 other participating sites in the United States are targeting client dogs that are experiencing newly onset congestive heart failure to participate in this trial. Stacey Leach, DVM, associate teaching professor of veterinary cardiology, says both new and past clients are eligible to…
MU Lab Aids Surveillance Efforts for Deadly African Swine Fever
Recent reports of African Swine Fever (ASF) outbreaks in the Dominican Republic and Haiti have heightened surveillance efforts for the highly contagious viral swine disease in the United States. University of Missouri’s Shuping Zhang, professor and director of the Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL) in the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, explains the dangers of ASF and the role the VMDL plays in testing for the virus to help protect animal health and the country’s agriculture industry. What is African Swine Fever and why is it so concerning? ASF is a highly infectious and deadly viral disease that affects both…
How the CVM has Continued to Thrive Through COVID-19
From March 2020 through today and into the future, COVID-19 has changed the lives of everyone at the University of Missouri and across the country. Throughout the pandemic, the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine has striven to provide students with an education and experiences equal to those they would have received if it had not happened. CVM Dean Carolyn Henry, DVM, MS, said while this process has not been easy, the CVM has been able to move through it successfully. “Going into this, there was a perception that because the experience was going to be different for our…
Expert Comment: Pet Food Recalled After MU Researcher Finds Contamination
Following an alert by a University of Missouri veterinary toxicology expert working in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. voluntarily recalled some of their Sportmix brand of pet food on Dec. 30, 2020. The FDA launched a formal investigation to identify all Sportmix pet food products containing potentially fatal levels of aflatoxin, a fungal toxin that can be poisonous if consumed by animals or humans. The FDA is now aware of more than 30 canine deaths and 8 illnesses in dogs, located in multiple states, that ate…
CVM Community’s Efforts Assist Veterans
CVM Provides Free Eye-Exams for Military Service Dogs The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Comparative Ophthalmology program has done its part to assist military service dogs. Elizabeth Giuliano, DVM, MS, DACVO, professor and section chief of the Comparative Ophthalmology Service at the MU Veterinary Health Center, has diligently worked with both clinical and basic science faculty for more than a decade to provide specialist services through her collaborations with both clinicians and vision-science researchers. “The ophthalmology section has provided free exams to military service dogs through a program organized by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists since 2011,”…
Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory Collaborates with MU Health Care to Expand COVID Testing
The University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory recently began working with MU Health Care to provide COVID-19 testing. With the MU Health Care testing site exceeding its capacity due to an increasing number of coronavirus cases, Shuping Zhang, BVS, PhD, DACVM, director of the VMDL, said it was time for the veterinary lab to start providing this service. “MU Health reached out to us for collaboration,” said Zhang. “With our participation, projected testing capacity is up to about 1,500 more tests per day, or around 8,500 per week.” There were many steps taken to make this possible for the…
Veterinary Health Center Acquires New Linear Accelerator
The University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine has installed a new linear accelerator in the Veterinary Health Center. A linear accelerator creates high energy x-rays, which are used to treat patients with certain types of cancer. The new linear accelerator was purchased after the previous linear accelerator, which had been used at the CVM for approximately seven years, began to break down. According to Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology Charles Maitz, DVM, PhD, DACVR-Radiation Oncology, the previous machine was around 8 years old when it was purchased, and the average life span is usually around 15 years of functionality…
Faculty Expert Comment: Highly Unlikely for COVID-19 to Transmit to Humans From Pets, Livestock
After a tiger at the Bronx Zoo recently tested positive for COVID-19, some pet owners are wondering if the respiratory disease can be transmitted from cats and dogs. While there have been nearly 2 million people worldwide infected with COVID-19, only two dogs, two cats and one tiger have tested positive for the novel coronavirus as of early April. “There’s an awful lot that we are still learning about the virus,” said Leah Cohn, professor of small animal internal medicine at the MU College of Veterinary Medicine. “We have not seen a rise in respiratory diseases or infections in dogs…
Slowing the Spread of Disease
MU’s Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab screens harvested deer for chronic wasting disease The Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory at the University of Missouri is helping to improve the testing of deer in Missouri after continued reports of chronic wasting disease. This illness is found in deer populations and affects the neurologic system, commonly causing chronic weight loss. Chronic wasting disease is fatal in all deer it infects, and left unchecked, has the potential to wipe out Missouri’s white tail deer population. Throughout Missouri, testing for the disease is vital and MU’s lab, housed in the College of Veterinary Medicine, is aiding…
The MU College of Veterinary Medicine is Missouri’s only institution that confers the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. Thank you for exploring how you can partner with us to make a positive difference in the lives of animals and people.