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Health News Results - 166

When a black cat named Pepper dropped a dead mouse on the carpet at his owner's feet on a day back in May 2021, neither of them knew then that it would alert scientists to the arrival of an exotic virus to the United States.

Pepper is a skilled hunter who regularly leaves “gifts” for his humans, so that part wasn't surprising. But owner

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • October 31, 2024
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    • Artificial intelligence can accurately detect heart murmurs in dogs, a new study finds.

    The AI program detects heart murmurs in canines with 90% accuracy, similar to the accuracy of expert cardiologists, researchers report.

    And in more than half the cases tested, the AI completely agreed with a cardiologist’s assessment of the murmur’s seriousness.

    These heart murm...

    The 2023 illness and death in Nebraska of a stray kitten infected with rabies set off a large-scale effort to discover how the feline became infected in the first place.

    That's because the strain of rabies the 6-week old kitten carried had never been detected so far west: The nearest other cases of the Eastern raccoon rabies virus variant (RRVV) were on the East Coast, almost 850 miles aw...

    The short but much-loved life of a French bulldog named George leaves a legacy of learning for those who care for animals and humans.

    George's owner Louis Tavares, of Windemere, Fla., brought him to doctors at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine’s Small Animal Hospital in late 2023, with what appeared to be a small mass on the 2-year-old pup's chest.

    <...

    A raw diet pet food company is recalling cartons of frozen beef and chicken dog food that could be tainted with salmonella or listeria germs.

    Answers Pet Food announced the recall this week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that two of its dog foods tested positive for salmonella, a third te...

    A cavalry of sorts can come to the rescue of combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new study says.

    Combat veterans who regularly care for horses experience an easing of their PTSD symptoms, as well as an overall improved mental outlook, researchers found.

    Focusing on a horse’s welfare can help a veteran shed the hypervigilance that often accom...

    Therapy dogs can help boost the spirits of health care workers in the same way they brighten the moods of hospital patients, a new study shows.

     The furry, four-legged friends reduced emotional exhaustion and job stress among a small group of workers at two surgical and two i...

    'Fetch': It's not just for dogs.

    New research finds that lots of cats -- 41% -- love retrieving toys tossed by their human.

    “Although cats and dogs are very different in many aspects of their behavior and in how they ended up being companion animals, we find it fascinating that so many of them share this very interesting behavior - fetching!," wrote a team led by

  • Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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  • September 5, 2024
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    • Tiny turtles are the cause of a outbreak of 51 cases of salmonella in 21 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday.

    In almost half of cases, the illness has been so severe as to require hospitalization, although no deaths have been reported.

    Babies and young kids are most often t...

    WEDNESDAY, Aug. 7, 2024 (HeathDay News) -- Researchers are gleaning important insights into miscarriages in women from an longtime four-legged friend: horses.

    It shouldn't come as a surprise, since female horses have long pregnancies (11 months) and embryos of both species grow at similar rates, said a team overseen by

  • Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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  • August 7, 2024
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    • In her youth, Shola, an English Shepherd Dog, was a member of the Edale Mountain Rescue Team, a corps of U.K. pooches charged with helping hurt and stranded hikers.

    But Shola was retired as part of the Rescue Team after a rare genetic disease affecting dogs, called progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), robbed her of her sight.

    It's too late for Shola, but new research has led to a ge...

    Dogs can sniff out whether a human is stressed or relaxed, new research suggests, and that sensory feedback appears to influence canine emotions and choices.

    The dog doesn't even have to know the human well to interpret odor in this way, the British researchers noted.

    “Dog owners know how attuned their pets are to their emotions, but here we show that even the odor of a stress...

    Pudgy with a purpose: Fat cats could help humans better understand the way gut bacteria influences conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes, a new study claims.

    Food-related changes in obese cats’ gut microbiome have striking similarities to the way diet affects the gut of humans, researchers reported recently in the journal

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • July 19, 2024
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    • Lizards called bearded dragons may not breathe fire, but they can be a source of one nasty infection: Salmonella.

    So warned the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in a health advisory on Friday, noting there have been reports of 15

  • Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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  • June 17, 2024
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    • The first two cases of a diphtheria-like illness being transmitted in the United States between people and their pets have been reported in Utah and Colorado.

    The respiratory illnesses occurred in 2022 and 2023 and involved the Corynebacterium ulceran bacterium, which is closely related to the germ that causes diptheria. One recent

  • Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
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  • June 13, 2024
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    • Shelter dogs do better with a buddy, a new study finds.

    Dogs show fewer signs of stress and are adopted more quickly if paired up with another canine rather than housed by themselves, researchers found.

    "Despite being a social species, dogs are often housed alone in shelters to reduce disease transmission and possible injury from inter-dog conflict,"said lead researcher

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • June 13, 2024
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    • Military veterans often struggle with their mental health once their service ends, but the first clinical trial of its kind has found that having a service dog helps lower the risk of PTSD for these former soldiers.

    Veterans paired with a service dog had 66% lower odds of a PTSD diagnosis, compared to a control group of vets still waiting for a service dog, researchers reported June 4 in ...

    Backyard chickens are causing outbreaks of salmonella across the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns.

    About 109 people in 29 states have gotten sick from salmonella after touching or caring for backyard poultry, the CDC said in a health advisory.

    Of those, ...

    Mice, rats and other wildlife can pick up bacteria called leptospira from water or soil and excrete it in urine.

    If your dog contacts any soil or water contaminated by the germ (especially if they have an open wound) they can easily develop a potentially deadly disease called leptospirosis.

    "Every dog that has access to the outdoors is at risk of getting leptospirosis,"str...

    Dogs brought into the United States from abroad must be compliant with new rules to help fight rabies in this country, according to updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Wednesday. 

    "Starting on August 1, 2024, all dogs entering the United States must: Appear healthy upon arrival; be at least six months of age [old enough for the rabies vacc...

    Pets and pet owners who come into contact with Bausch & Lomb's "Project Watson" dog eye wipes could be at risk for infection if the products come from certain lots.

    The wipes are used to clean a dog's eyelids, but two specific lots (numbers A09050 and A10055, printed on the container's bottom) could become easily contaminated, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) noted in an ...

    People worry about contracting Lyme disease from ticks, but they should be concerned for their furry friends as well, veterinarians say.

    Dogs throughout the United States are increasingly vulnerable to the tick-borne illness, say experts from the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.

    Lyme disease was traditionally thought to be limited mostly to the nort...

    The emotional turmoil caused by a stolen dog is akin to that of a parent losing a child, a new study finds.

    The findings support the idea that pets truly become family members to their owners, researchers said. When faced with the theft of a pet, ow...

    Dogs and cats can pass antibiotic-resistant bacteria to their owners, raising concerns that household pets could be contributing to the world's antibiotics crisis, a new study says.

    Cases of these "superbugs"being passed between sick dogs and cats and their healthy owners have been identified in the U.K. and Portugal, according to research presented at the European Society of Clinical Mic...

    A rare fungal infection has been diagnosed in two cats and a vet tech who treated one of the animals, a new report warns.

    The three cases -- discovered in Kansas in late 2022 and early 2023 -- were caused by a fungus called Sporothrix schenckii, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in the May issue of the journal Emerging Infectious Di...

    As their aging brains shrink, older dogs can suffer the same memory and thinking problems as many older humans do.

    But dogs are just like humans in another way -- playtime and social activities can help preserve their brain function, a new study finds.

    Exercising, socializing, playing with toys and playing with other dogs helped a small group of beagles maintain their brains, resear...

    People worry about deadly viruses leaping from animals into humans, but a new study suggests that wildlife is more at risk than humans are.

    Roughly twice as many viruses pass from humans to animals than the other way around, researchers report March 25 in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

    "We should ...

    It's well-known that dogs can learn words for spoken commands like "sit,""stand"and "heel."

    But a new study has found they also can tell their "ball-ball"from their "dolly,""teddy,""chewy"or "squeaky squeak."

    Brain scans reveal that dogs generally know that certain words stand for certain objects, researchers reported March 22 in the journal

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • March 25, 2024
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    • Cuddly, friendly, fun: Your pet brings so much to your life, but experts warn that, in rare cases, they can also bring illness.

    The health benefits of pet ownership are many, noted Dr. Stacey Rose, an associate professor of infectious diseases and internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

    For examp...

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug to treat yeast ear infections in dogs.

    DuOtic is also the first ear infection medication that does not contain an antibiotic, the FDA said in its

  • Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
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  • March 19, 2024
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    • A parasite that can kill dogs has been found in a portion of the Colorado River that runs through Southern California.

    Heterobilharzia americana is a flatworm usually referred as liver fluke. It has never been reported this far west, according to scientists at UCRiverside, who are warning pet owners of the danger. 

    The worm can cause canine schistosomiasis, which affe...

    Playing fetch or grooming Fido isn't just good for your precious pooch -- it also benefits your brain.

    Such interactions appear to strengthen brain waves associated with rest and relaxation, South Korean researchers report in the March 13 issue of the journal PLOS One. Their small study compar...

    Nearly a quarter of Labrador retrievers are more likely to be obese due to a genetic "double-whammy,"a new study finds.

    This gene mutation causes Labradors to both feel hungry all the time and also burn fewer calories, British researchers report.

    The mutation involves a gene called POMC, which plays a critical role in hunger and energy use among Labs.

    About 25% of Labradors an...

    The vast majority (84%) of Americans with pets say their animal companion brings a positive mental health impact to their lives, a new poll shows.

    The poll of more than 2,200 adults conducted early last month also found about two-thirds of respondents calling their pet "a true friend," a "companion" and someone who "provide[s] unconditional love and support."

    That's according to a ...

    Perhaps by reducing anxiety, a service dog can help reduce seizures in people with tough-to-treat epilepsy, a new study finds.

    A group of 25 study participants had an average 31% fewer seizures after months of owning a service dog trained to help people with epilepsy.

    And seven of those patients experienced a 50% to 100% reduction in seizures, researchers report in the Feb. 28 issue...

    One in 10 homeless people has a pet, and one-stop health clinics where both can get health care would benefit both, a new study suggests.

    The study, published Feb. 19 in the journal Human-Animal Interactions, found that joint people-pet clinics, free veterinary clinics and pet-friendly lodging are common ways homeless people and their four-legged companions can get help. 

    Imagine being subjected to domestic violence in your home, wanting to escape -- but there's no place you can go that will accept a beloved pet.

    That's the gut-wrenching situation facing too many victims of domestic abuse, according to a new data review spanning 27 years.

    "In a lot of cases of domestic violence, there is evidence to suggest that people will delay leaving their relati...

    If your dog is looking like he needs to drop some weight, a new study shows probiotics might do the trick.

    Researchers identified two strains of probiotics that helped obese canines shed pounds.

    "The strains we carefully selected demonstrated remarkable success in reducing the body fat percentage in dogs,"said principal researcher Youn...

    Ever wonder what your dog most likes to watch on TV?

    Think nature documentaries, Lassie or good old Scooby-Doo, a new study suggests.

    Dogs are most engaged when watching videos that feature other animals, according to a new study published recently in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Scie...

    The average size of your dog's breed plays a role in which diseases your pet is more apt to develop, a new study has found.

    It turns out that larger dogs are more prone to a different set of diseases than small dogs are.

    Prior research has found that smaller dogs tend to live longer than larger dogs, the researchers noted.

    "These results provide insights into the disease categ...

    Millions of revelers hit the road after New Year's Eve celebrations and the inevitability of impaired drivers make the holiday one of the nation's deadliest.

    High blood-alcohol levels are a factor in more than 50% of crashes on New Year's Day, the American Safety Council warns. Law enforcement officers will be on alert, with checkpoints and roadblocks in many places to check drivers for s...

    For the growing number of American seniors who live alone, having a beloved dog or cat by their side could help them maintain a healthy brain.

    New research on more than 7,900 people averaging 66 years of age found that those who lived alone were able to stave off losses in memory and thinking if they had a pet.

    Pet ownership didn't seem to affect the cognition of older folks who liv...

    People whose beliefs or concerns make them hesitant to get vaccinated are also likely to forgo vaccinating their pets, new research shows.

    That could threaten the health of people and their four-legged friends, researchers said.

    "Decreasing pet vaccination rates pose challenges to society for a number of reasons, including increased incidents of pet disease and death, increases in e...

    Blue Ridge Beef, a maker of raw pet foods, has announced it is recalling some of its products for kittens and puppies because of possible contamination with salmonella and listeria.

    After being notified earlier this month by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that health officials found salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes in certain products, the...

    The holidays are all about treats and most pets are thrilled to partake in the indulging, but some foods you might give them could make them sick or worse.

    "Pets tend to get more treats at holiday time -- from their owners or from houseguests -- which can put them at risk for health issues ranging from mild to life-threatening [think everything from a mild case of diarrhea all the way to ...

    French Bulldogs might be the most widespread breed in the world, but the fancy, flat-faced pooches pay a high price for their popularity, a new study warns.

    The shortened skulls and large, round heads that make Frenchies so cute also leads to worse sleep, thanks to breed-specific sleep apnea, researchers report.

    Further, this poor sleep could be a sign of potentially harmful changes...

    A new type of bacterial infection could be the culprit behind a mysterious canine respiratory illness that has been infecting dogs from coast to coast, New Hampshire researchers say.

    Genetic sequencing of samples from 70 infected dogs from New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts has revealed a previously unknown bacterium, researchers from the New Hampshire Veterinary Diagnostic Lab...

    If you belong to one of the 46 million American households with a cat, you already know how stressful a trip to the vet can be for your feline -- and you.

    Rescue might be on the way: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a new medicine to help calm cat anxiety.

    The pill is called Bonqat, and it's designed "for the alleviation of acute anxiety and fear associated w...

    FRIDAY, Nov. 10, 2023 (Healthday News) -- Two federal health agencies are investigating a salmonella outbreak linked to dog food that has sickened seven people in seven states, nearly all of them infants.

    On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

  • Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
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  • November 10, 2023
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    • New research is shedding light on why one of man's best friends -- the golden retriever -- has high odds for cancer death, although some end up living much longer than average.

    This popular dog breed has an up to 65% chance of dying from cancer.

    "We assume that the majority of golden retrievers have a genetic predisposition to cancer, but if some of them are living to be 14, 15 or 1...

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