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The most powerful woman in the world blinded her own son to uphold her beliefs Gorgeous, brilliant, and powerful, the Empress Irene perched upon her throne and contemplated her Eastern Roman Empire. She sought to reunite it with the West through marriage with none other than Charlemagne. Luckily for the great Carolingian king, pleuritis killed Continue Reading
In our fourth and final installment of prion diseases, we will discuss probably the most familiar of the TSEs: bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Most cases occur in the United Kingdom, but the disease has been found in Japan, Canada, the US, and across Europe. First diagnosed in the UK in 1986, BSE was brought to Continue Reading
In our third installment of prion diseases, we will discuss the oldest of the TSEs: scrapie. Scrapie affects sheep, goats, and their close relatives. Scrapie received its name from the intense pruritis that affected animals exhibit. First described in Great Britain in the 1750s, scrapie can now be found worldwide, expect for Australia and New Continue Reading
We covered the basics of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in our previous post. We will delve a little deeper into the three economically significant diseases in the remaining posts. White tail season closed last week. Hopefully, the season was successful for those who endured endless hours of scouting, fine tuning scopes and bows, and freezing in Continue Reading
A family of diseases caused by a little known agent is making a steady march across the US. One form of this disease is centuries old in Europe, while another is only a few decades old here in the US. Only mammals are affected, which includes humans. The disease can neither be treated or vaccinated Continue Reading
Like the ancient Roman army, cytokines are a formidable force When facing Carthaginian forces on the field of battle, Roman infantry proved devastating and impactful. When loitering within their own city walls, the Roman infantry also proved devastating and impactful, quickly leading the rule that the army must remain well outside their own city. A Continue Reading
A closer look at Predictive Values When waging war and winning battles, successful generals consider timing a critical factor. Shall we move at dawn or wait till their supplies run lower? Few empires have witnessed the consistent military success as Rome. For roughly one thousand years, they expanded their empire, obliterated their enemies, and reigned Continue Reading
Biosecurity is a very important aspect of any size operation, from a handful of chickens in the backyard to large commercial swine operations. The purpose of biosecurity is to prevent infectious diseases from coming into the herd or flock. There are many ways that disease can enter a premises. Bacteria and viruses can be Continue Reading