The Horse Doctor

There are interesting reports that the Global Jihad movement may be splintering. The American Thinker is reporting on this now. "In March and again in May of this year I reviewed relevant South Asian media reporting to predict that the global Islamic jihad movement was cracking up. That theory focused on a split between the leadership of al Qaeda and the jihad groups that secure them in Pakistan such as the Taliban.". It appears that the U.S. used this split to set an elaborate trap in Afghanistan. Acc ording to the UK Telegraph... But an observer may wonder why, if al Qaeda had to vacate the camps, didn't they just go to other hideouts in Pakistan? According to this article in the Telegraph : The Uzbeks are a surviving remnant of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, an al-Qa'eda affiliate that fought with the Taliban against the Americans in 2001. Its surviving members fled into Pakistan's lawless tribal belt where earlier this year their hosts turned again...

Screwworms were eradicated in the US years ago by using a unique method. Male flies were irradiated to make them sterile and then released into the wild making breedings infertile. Now there is a report of screwworms being found in Mississippi. Here's the USDA report. "Dr. Henry Moreau, State Veterinarian, reports that Screwworms were confirmed in Mississippi on September 21, 2007 in a dog that was imported from Trinidad. Screwworms are flesh-eating larvae (maggots) that can infect any warm-blooded mammal, and if untreated can be fatal. Screwworms are on the list of OIE Foreign Animal Diseases that have been eradicated from the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, and economic effects would be devastating to livestock if a re-infestation were to occur in the U.S. Veterinarians are the first line of defense against FAD's, so please be on the look-out for these parasites. Attached is a fact sheet on Screwworms, and please call our office at 225-925-3980 to ask questions or to...

This video is hilarious, stupid but hilarious. I've seen owners and a few Veterinary students when I was a resident that could give this lady a run for her money though .

A meteorite exploded near a village in Peru monday causing many inhabitants to become ill. It left a 100 ft. wide crater that had boiling water in its center. They complained of chemical smells and sulfur , likely Hydrogen sulfide gas. Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia . "Seven policemen who went to check on the reports also became ill and had to be given oxygen before being hospitalized, Lopez said. Rescue teams and experts were dispatched to the scene, where the meteorite left a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide) and 20-foot-deep (six-meter-deep) crater, said local official Marco Limache. Video link - here

9 cases of human leishmaniasis have been reported in N. Texas. This disease is found in South America ,Mexico and the Middle East. It has also been called "the Baghdad boil" and is caused by the single celled parasite Leishmania. The infection causes large sores that look like boils and usually last six to 12 months. Doctors suspect human infection begins when a sand fly bites a rodent called the burrowing wood rat, which carries the parasite. When the sand fly later bites a person, the sores may develop. ( on line lecture-Dr Andrews bio-seminars link ) For those who contract Leishmaniasis weeks of hospital treatment with some very strong drugs is required. Nearly all patients experience side effects from the drug, which include debilitating fevers and headaches, incredible fatigue, and other conditions including chemical pancreatitis. The best drug for treating Leishmaniasis is called Pentosam, registered in Britain since 1978. This drug, which is based on the heavy me...

There has been an unusual event occurring in US bee colonies recently, it's called "Colony collapse disorder". This is very significant in that %50 of US bee hives are affected and they are needed to pollinate over 90 different fruit and vegetable crops estimated at $14 billion annually. There are 2 schools of thought about the cause (1) via SFGate .com A UCSF researcher who found the SARS virus in 2003 and later won a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" for his work thinks he has discovered a culprit in the alarming deaths of honeybees across the United States. Tests of genetic material taken from a "collapsed colony" in Merced County point to a once-rare microbe that previously affected only Asian bees but might have evolved into a strain lethal to those in Europe and the United States, biochemist Joe DeRisi said Wednesday. DeRisi said tests conducted on material from dead bees at his Mission Bay lab found genes of the single-celled, s...