The global distribution of bluetongue virus (BTV) has been changing recently, perhaps as a result of climate change. To evaluate the risk of BTV infection and transmission in a BTV-endemic region of California, sentinel dairy cows were evaluated for BTV infection, and populations of Culicoides vectors were collected at different sites using carbon dioxide. A deterministic model was developed to quantify risk and guide future mitigation strategies to reduce BTV infection in California dairy cattle. The greatest risk of BTV transmission was predicted within the warm Central Valley of California that contains the highest density of dairy cattle in the United States. Temperature and parameters associated with Culicoides vectors (transmission probabilities, carrying capacity, and survivorship) had the greatest effect on BTV's basic reproduction number, R0. Based on these analyses, optimal control strategies for reducing BTV infection risk in dairy cattle will be highly reliant upon early efforts to reduce vector abundance during the months prior to peak transmission.

Background

Serum folate is considered a biomarker of chronic enteropathy (CE) in dogs, but few studies have examined associations with markers of CE.

Hypothesis/objectives

To evaluate serum folate concentrations in dogs with and without CE and associations with sample hemolysis and selected markers of CE. We hypothesized that hypofolatemia would be more common in dogs with CE and associated with hypocobalaminemia, higher CIBDAI, and hypoalbuminemia.

Animals

Six hundred seventy-three dogs with available serum folate measurements performed at an academic veterinary hospital between January 2016 and December 2019.

Methods

Medical records were retrospectively reviewed to categorize cases as CE or non-CE and record clinical details and laboratory markers. Relationships between serum folate, cobalamin, and CE variables were assessed using chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis, or Spearman's correlation tests.

Results

Of the 673 dogs, 99 CE were compared to 95 non-CE. In the overall cohort, serum folate concentration did not correlate with sample hemolysis (P = .75). In the CE subset, serum folate and cobalamin concentrations were positively associated (rho = 0.34, FDR = 0.02). However, serum folate concentrations (median [25th, 75th percentiles]) were higher (CE: 12.1 (8.9, 16.1), non-CE: 10.4 (7.2, 15.5); P = .04) and cobalamin concentrations were lower (CE: 343 (240, 597), non-CE: 550 (329, 749); P = .001) in the CE vs non-CE group. Serum folate was not associated with markers of CE, but serum cobalamin was associated with albumin (P = .04) and cholesterol (P = .03).

Conclusions and clinical importance

Hypofolatemia is an inferior biomarker of CE compared to hypocobalaminemia.

Suicide is a major public health problem affecting US Veterans and the US in general. Many variables (e.g., demographic, clinical, biological, geographic) have been associated with risk for suicide and suicidal behavior, including altitude; however, the exact nature of the relationship between altitude and suicide remains unclear in part due to the fact that previous studies have used either geospatial data or individual-level data, but not both. Prior research has also failed to consider the full range of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, ranging from suicidal ideation to suicide deaths. Accordingly, the objective of the present research was to use both geospatial data (county and zip codes) and individual-level data to comprehensively assess the association between altitude and suicide mortality, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation among US Veterans between 2000 and 2018. Taken together, our results demonstrate that there is a strong correlation between altitude and suicide rates at all the levels investigated and using different statistical analyses and even after controlling for significant covariates such as percent of age >50yr, percent male, percent white, percent non-Hispanic, median household income, and population density. We show that there is a positive correlation between altitude and suicide attempts especially when controlling by the covariates and a weak correlation between altitude and suicide ideation and the combination of suicide, suicide attempts and suicide ideation.