Animal health

Dogs, cats and birds have lived alongside humans for thousands of years. Our interconnected lives offer physical and psychological benefits, as well as some risks.

Dogs and cats in temperate regions are encountering pathogens that once thrived only in the tropics. As the climate warms and pests migrate north, animals, and some humans, are facing new health risks.

The health of animals, humans and the environment will be better served by breaking down barriers, says Laura H. Kahn.

Once anathema, it now seems that a 'dirty' environment can enrich a baby's microbiome and lessen her or his likelihood of developing everything from obesity to asthma. Again, it seems that we can rely on man's best friend to help us out.

In the southern United States, heartworm parasites are acquiring resistance to preventives that once offered complete protection, raising concerns for dog owners.

A pathogen spread by domestic cats threatens the health of humans and livestock. Could a solution as simple as taking better care of cats help to combat the infection?

A warming Arctic is leaving people and wildlife vulnerable to disease outbreaks.

Ebola could pose a grave health threat to gorillas in Africa. Vaccination seems like a smart solution, but dosing the animals in the wild poses major challenges.

Antibiotic resistance constitutes a threat to human and animal health worldwide. Here, Manaia and colleagues report the main findings of the European COST (Cooperation in Science and Technology) Action DARE (Detecting Evolutionary Hotspots of Antibiotic Resistance in Europe) and discuss the need for improved sampling of the environment and more comprehensive databases, as well as the policy and management options that should be considered as priorities to tackle antibiotic resistance in the environment.

Treatment with lipid nanoparticles encapsulating siRNAs targeting the viral VP35 gene are able to rescue rhesus macaques infected with a lethal dose of Sudan ebolavirus.

T. gondii crosses biological barriers using transcellular migration or within an infected migrating cell. Here, infection and lysis of endothelial cells in the brain vasculature is identified as a new route of access to the central nervous system.

Insights into coronavirus emergence, replication and pathogenesis gained from the SARS and MERS outbreaks have guided the development of preventive and therapeutic measures. In this Review, Munster and colleagues highlight recent achievements and areas that need to be addressed to combat novel coronaviruses.

In this Review, Basler and colleagues describe the mechanisms of immune evasion used by filoviruses, with a focus on Ebola virus and Marburg virus, and discuss how these mechanisms are linked to pathogenesis and disease severity.

Inflammatory bowel disease dysbiosis networks were different between humans and dogs, with some species switching from positive to negative between groups. Stool samples were sufficient for dog-classification, whereas mucosal samples are required in humans.

Severe haemorrhagic fever is a feature of infection with both Ebola and Lassa viruses, but differences in the immune responses induced by infection in each case may have important implications for the development of specific therapies and vaccines.

Genomic analysis of global Babesia microti isolates reveals a population segregated into distinct geographic lineages and identifies variants in drug-binding regions of cytochrome b and ribosomal protein subunit L4 that are associated with relapsing disease.