5.20
Katherine Unger Baillie
Science News Officer
kbaillie@upenn.edu
Veterinary Medicine
Virtual vet app wins Penn Wharton Startup Challenge
Virtual vet app wins Penn Wharton Startup Challenge
Penn Wharton Startup Challenge Competition winner My Virtual Veterinarian, a virtual veterinary portal for pet owners, makes it possible for pets to receive the care they need, when they need it.
Penn Vet launches COVID-19 canine scent detection study
Penn Vet launches COVID-19 canine scent detection study
Canine surveillance could play key role as the United States reopens and anticipates possible second wave amid virus fears.
Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply
Supporting agriculture and a safe food supply
Essential workers in the School of Veterinary Medicine are caring for livestock, keeping track of disease, ensuring product consistency, and communicating with farmers to ensure that farms can continue providing a reliable food supply for the community.
New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors
New feathered dinosaur was one of the last surviving raptors
Dineobellator notohesperus lived 67 million years ago. Steven Jasinski, who recently earned his doctorate from the School of Arts and Sciences working with Peter Dodson, also of the School of Veterinary Medicine, led the effort to describe the find.
Providing care from a distance
Providing care from a distance
Telemedicine is a critical tool in the COVID-19 epidemic. Clinicians at the medical, dental, and veterinary schools are making use of virtual encounters to keep providing patients with safe, timely, quality care.
COVID-19 and your pet: Tips from Penn Vet
COVID-19 and your pet: Tips from Penn Vet
Microbiology experts Shelley Rankin and Stephen Cole have compiled some facts and tips to keep in mind regarding COVID-19 and your pets.
For improved profit margins, the dairy doctor is in
For improved profit margins, the dairy doctor is in
Penn Vet’s Joe Bender integrated approach to dairy cow herd health can pay off in productivity, focusing on the health of the entire farm rather than individual cows.
Demystifying feline behavior
Demystifying feline behavior
Carlo Siracusa and James Serpell of the School of Veterinary Medicine contextualize recent findings in cat behavior science, debunk some cat-related myths, and explain why our kitties are not just “low-maintenance dogs.”
Answers to microbiome mysteries in the gills of rainbow trout
Answers to microbiome mysteries in the gills of rainbow trout
In trout, the School of Veterinary Medicine’s J. Oriol Sunyer and colleagues discovered that a particular type of primitive antibody is essential for fighting microbes that cause disease while preserving others that make up a healthy microbiome.
Treatment in a FLASH
Treatment in a FLASH
A clinical trial in dogs with cancer, co-led by the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine, is testing the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of delivering a full dose of radiation therapy in a split second.
Media Contact
In the News
KYW Newsradio (Philadelphia)
Penn is training dogs to sniff out COVID-19 in humans
Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about the Working Dog Center’s efforts to train dogs to detect COVID-19 in humans. “Basically, we are looking at urine samples. We are hoping to look at saliva and breath samples as well,” she said. “We are going to tell basically if there is an odor excreted in these samples.”
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KYW Newsradio (Philadelphia)
Telehealth for dog behavior problems during COVID-19
Carlo Siracusa of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about the School’s new telehealth program for dog behavioral issues and offered advice for pet owners.
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Morning Edition (NPR)
Researchers experiment to see if dogs can detect COVID-19
Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about the potential use of scent-detecting dogs to identify COVID-19 in humans.
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The Washington Post
Dogs are being trained to sniff out coronavirus cases
Cynthia Otto of the School of Veterinary Medicine is quoted on training dogs to detect disease.
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WHYY (Philadelphia)
Cats can get coronavirus. How worried should you be?
Shelley Rankin of the School of Veterinary Medicine weighed in on a study that found that cats can contract and spread the coronavirus. “All this study showed is that they could experimentally infect cats: It doesn’t mean that the virus is causing disease in the cat population, and it does not mean that cats can infect humans,” she said. “Whether or not this can happen in the wild … is still open to interpretation.”
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Philadelphia Inquirer
They said pets couldn’t get the coronavirus, so how did a tiger test positive? Vets explain
Shelley C. Rankin of the School of Veterinary Medicine spoke about the transfer of disease between animals and humans with regard to COVID-19, which anecdotal evidence suggests could be passed to pets from their owners.
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