Worms & Germs Map tracks diseases in dogs, cats, horses

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Veterinarians and veterinary technicians can contribute to a new Web-based mapping system to track infectious diseases in dogs, cats, and horses worldwide.

Map

The Worms & Germs Map is a companion to the Worms & Germs Blog. The latter is an educational site focusing on infectious diseases of companion animals—encompassing household pets and horses—with an emphasis on zoonotic diseases. Drs. Scott Weese of the University of Guelph and Maureen Anderson of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food began the blog in 2006 and launched the map in early April 2014.

Drs. Weese and Anderson wrote, “This disease mapping site was developed because we perceived a need for real-time tracking of companion animal infectious diseases and a need to foster more knowledge about infectious diseases amongst vets, animal owners, and people in human medicine and public health. It may also help track emerging diseases (and) diseases that have a changing range and allow for more rapid identification of outbreaks.”

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians can register at the site to submit information about cases. The map currently tracks a dozen infectious diseases that affect dogs or cats or both and a dozen infectious diseases of horses, as well as nonspecific outbreaks.