Emerging Variants of Canine Enteric Coronavirus Associated with Outbreaks of Gastroenteric Disease.

A 2022 canine gastroenteritis outbreak in the United Kingdom was associated with circulation of a new canine enteric coronavirus closely related to a 2020 variant with an additional spike gene recombination. The variants are unrelated to canine enteric coronavirus-like viruses associated with human disease but represent a model for coronavirus population adaptation.

Dissecting the molecular diversity and commonality of bovine and human treponemes identifies key survival and adhesion mechanisms.

Here, we report the first complete genomes of three cultivable treponeme species from bovine digital dermatitis (DD) skin lesions, two comparative human treponemes, considered indistinguishable from bovine DD species, and a bovine gastrointestinal (GI) treponeme isolate. Key genomic differences between bovine and human treponemes implicate microbial mechanisms that enhance knowledge of how DD, a severe disease of ruminants, has emerged into a prolific, worldwide disease. Bovine DD treponemes have additional oxidative stress genes compared to nearest human-isolated relatives, suggesting better oxidative stress tolerance, and potentially explaining how bovine strains can colonize skin surfaces. Comparison of both bovine DD and GI treponemes as well as bovine pathogenic and human non-pathogenic saprophyte Treponema phagedenis strains indicates genes encoding a five-enzyme biosynthetic pathway for production of 2,3-diacetamido-2,3-dideoxy-d-mannuronic acid, a rare di-N-acetylated mannuronic acid sugar, as important for pathogenesis. Bovine T. phagedenis strains further differed from human strains by having unique genetic clusters including components of a type IV secretion system and a phosphate utilisation system including phoU, a gene associated with osmotic stress survival. Proteomic analyses confirmed bovine derived T. phagedenis exhibits expression of PhoU but not the putative secretion system, whilst the novel mannuronic acid pathway was expressed in near entirety across the DD treponemes. Analysis of osmotic stress response in water identified a difference between bovine and human T. phagedenis with bovine strains exhibiting enhanced survival. This novel mechanism could enable a selective advantage, allowing environmental persistence and transmission of bovine T. phagedenis. Finally, we investigated putative outer membrane protein (OMP) ortholog families across the DD treponemes and identified several families as multi-specific adhesins capable of binding extra cellular matrix (ECM) components. One bovine pathogen specific adhesin ortholog family showed considerable serodiagnostic potential with the Treponema medium representative demonstrating considerable disease specificity (91.6%). This work has shed light on treponeme host adaptation and has identified candidate molecules for future diagnostics, vaccination and therapeutic intervention.

Seasonality and other risk factors for fleas infestations in domestic dogs and cats.

Fleas in the genus Ctenocephalides are the most clinically important parasitic arthropods of dogs and cats worldwide yet risk factors that might increase the risk of infestation in small animals remains unclear. Here we developed a supervised text mining approach analysing key aspects of flea epidemiology using electronic health records from domestic cats and dogs seen at a sentinel network of 191 voluntary veterinary practices across Great Britain between March 2014 and July 2020. Our methods identified fleas as likely to have been present during 22,276 of 1,902,016 cat consultations (1.17%) and 12,168 of 4,844,850 dog consultations (0.25%). Multivariable logistic regression modelling found that animals originating from areas of least deprivation were associated with 50% reductions in odds of veterinary-recorded flea infestation compared to the most deprived regions in England. Age of the animal was significantly associated with flea presentation in both cats and dogs, with cases peaking before animals reached 12 months. Cases were recorded through each study years, peaking between July and October, with fluctuations between each year. Our findings can be used towards healthcare messaging for veterinary practitioners and owners.

Outbreak of Severe Vomiting in Dogs Associated with a Canine Enteric Coronavirus, United Kingdom.

The lack of population health surveillance for companion animal populations leaves them vulnerable to the effects of novel diseases without means of early detection. We present evidence on the effectiveness of a system that enabled early detection and rapid response a canine gastroenteritis outbreak in the United Kingdom. In January 2020, prolific vomiting among dogs was sporadically reported in the United Kingdom. Electronic health records from a nationwide sentinel network of veterinary practices confirmed a significant increase in dogs with signs of gastroenteric disease. Male dogs and dogs living with other vomiting dogs were more likely to be affected. Diet and vaccination status were not associated with the disease; however, a canine enteric coronavirus was significantly associated with illness. The system we describe potentially fills a gap in surveillance in neglected populations and could provide a blueprint for other countries.

Factors Associated with Prescription of Antimicrobial Drugs for Dogs and Cats, United Kingdom, 2014-2016.

Antimicrobial stewardship is a cornerstone of efforts to curtail antimicrobial resistance. To determine factors potentially influencing likelihood of prescribing antimicrobials for animals, we analyzed electronic health records for unwell dogs (n = 155,732 unique dogs, 281,543 consultations) and cats (n = 69,236 unique cats, 111,139 consultations) voluntarily contributed by 173 UK veterinary practices. Using multivariable mixed effects logistic regression, we found that factors associated with decreased odds of systemic antimicrobial prescription were client decisions focused on preventive health: vaccination (dogs, odds ratio [OR] 0.93, 95% CI, 0.90-0.95; cats, OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.89-0.95), insurance (dogs, OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.84-0.90; cats, OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.79-0.86), neutering of dogs (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.88-0.92), and practices accredited by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (OR 0.79, 95% 95% CI 0.68-0.92). This large multicenter companion animal study demonstrates the potential of preventive healthcare and client engagement to encourage responsible antimicrobial drug use.

A descriptive epidemiological study of the incidence of newly diagnosed Lyme disease cases in a UK primary care cohort, 1998-2016.

BACKGROUND: Primary care is likely to see the highest number of Lyme disease patients. Despite this, there is limited published data regarding Lyme disease patients accessing primary care in the UK. We aim to describe trends in the incidence of a new diagnosis, and demographics of patients identified in a primary care electronic health database. METHODS: A descriptive epidemiological study of Lyme disease coded patients in UK primary care. 3725 patients coded for Lyme disease during 1998-2016 were identified within The Health Improvement Network (THIN). Incidence rates and the demographics of cases identified were described. Poisson regression was used to analyse socio-demographic characteristics of the cases. RESULTS: There was an increase in annual crude incidence rates, peaking in 2015 at 5.47 (95% CI 4.85-6.14) cases per 100,000 population per year. Multivariable analysis showed there were significant differences in the ages of those affected, incidence of a new diagnosis rose as deprivation levels improved, and that there was a higher incidence of cases living in rural areas compared to urban areas. There was no significant difference between sexes for the UK. Cases were significantly more likely to identify with being white compared to the national population. CONCLUSIONS: An increasing incidence of patients newly coded with Lyme disease related Read codes was identified using data from a UK national primary care database. By comparing these incidence figures with national laboratory-confirmed surveillance data, a multiplication factor of 2.35 (95%CI 1.81-2.88) can be calculated in order to estimate the annual number of cases seen in primary care. The significant socio-demographic variables associated with a Lyme disease diagnosis likely reflect a complex interplay of socio-economic issues, which needs to be further explored. Future work is needed to examine the treatment and management of patients within this database.

Mapping tweets to a known disease epidemiology; a case study of Lyme disease in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

BACKGROUND: Analysis of social media is an emerging method with potential as a tool for disease surveillance. Twitter may offer a route for surveillance by using tweeting habits as a proxy for disease incidence. Previous work has focused on temporal patterns and have proven to be successful. However, the identification of geographical patterns has been limited by a combination of Twitter's data collection policies and by exploring diseases that have a high prevalence and high levels of awareness with the public. We propose that, by performing a restricted geographical search strategy on a disease with a relatively low incidence, one may be able to explore spatial patterns. Here, Lyme disease in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is used as a case example. OBJECTIVE: To explore whether the tweeting habits of British and Irish Twitter users matched the known spatio-temporal epidemiology of Lyme disease in these respective countries. METHODS: All Tweets containing the word 'Lyme' were collected between the 1st of July 2017 and the 30th June 2018, restricted by geography (a 375-mile radius around the geographical centre of Great Britain) and by language (English-only tweets). Tweets were removed which referred to locations that included 'Lyme' within their name (e.g. Lyme Regis). Only original tweets were analysed. Daily and monthly time series were created and compared to national Lyme disease surveillance figures. A map of the number of Twitter users tweeting about Lyme disease per 100,000 population per local authority was created. This was formerly compared to national surveillance data for England and Wales using an exploratory spatial data analysis approach. RESULTS: During the study period, 13,757 original tweets containing the word 'Lyme', and excluding place names relating to Lyme, were collected. The mean number of daily tweets was 38 (range: 12-276). There was strong seasonality with the highest number of tweets in the summer, this matched the known epidemiology of Lyme disease. Of the 5212 of users who tweeted about Lyme disease, 51.8% had a user profile location that could be matched to a local authority in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland. The mean number of Twitter users tweeting about Lyme disease per 100,000 population per local authority was 3.7. The areas with the highest incidence were south-west England and the Highlands of Scotland. When comparing these figures to English and Welsh Lyme disease surveillance figures they showed a significant positive spatial correlation (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The tempo-spatial pattern of Twitter users tweeting about Lyme disease matches the known disease epidemiology. The degree of geographical concordance between Twitter users' locations and national surveillance reports, indicate that Twitter has the potential to be used in to identify potential disease hotspots based on the levels of social media 'noise'. There is scope for further work to test the robustness of Twitter as an adjunct 'measure of concern' disease surveillance tool. However, caution must be taken as national media stories can skew data and Twitter users may not provide reliable facts in the data that they share on the platform.

Characteristics and patient pathways of Lyme disease patients: a retrospective analysis of hospital episode data in England and Wales (1998-2015).

BACKGROUND: Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease of increasing global importance. There is scant information on Lyme disease patient demographics in England and Wales, and how they interact with the National Health Service (NHS). Our aims were to explore the demographic characteristics of Lyme disease patients within the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and Patient Episode Database for Wales (PEDW), and to describe patient pathways. METHODS: Data from 1st January 1998 to 31st December 2015 was retrieved from the two administrative hospital datasets (HES and PEDW), based on patients coded with Lyme disease. Information was collected on demographic characteristics, home address and case management. Incidence rates were calculated, and demographics compared to the national population. RESULTS: Within HES and PEDW, 2361 patients were coded with Lyme disease. There was a significant increase (p < 0.01) in incidence from 0.08 cases/100,000 in 1998, to 0.53 cases/100,000 in 2015. There was a bimodal age distribution, patients were predominantly female, white and from areas of low deprivation. New cases peaked annually in August, with higher incidence rates in southern central and western England. Within hospital admission data (n = 2066), most cases were either referred from primary care (28.8%, n = 596) or admitted via accident and emergency (A&E) (29.5%, n = 610). This population entering secondary care through A&E suggest a poor understanding of the recommended care pathways for symptoms related to Lyme disease by the general population. CONCLUSIONS: These data can be used to inform future investigations into Lyme disease burden, and patient management within the NHS. They provide demographic information for clinicians to target public health messaging or interventions.

Mycoplasma tullyi sp. nov., isolated from penguins of the genus Spheniscus.

A mycoplasma isolated from the liver of a dead Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) and designated strain 56A97T, was investigated to determine its taxonomic status. Complete 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that the organism was most closely related to Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma imitans(99.7 and 99.9 % similarity, respectively). The average DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain 56A97T and M. gallisepticum and M. imitans were 39.5 and 30 %, respectively and the Genome to Genome Distance Calculator gave results of 29.10 and 23.50 %, respectively. The 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer was 72-73 % similar to M. gallisepticum strains and 52.2 % to M. imitans. A partial sequence of rpoB was 91.1-92 % similar to M. gallisepticum strains and 84.7 % to M. imitans. Colonies possessed a typical fried-egg appearance and electron micrographs revealed the lack of a cell wall and a nearly spherical morphology, with an electron-dense tip-like structure on some flask-shaped cells. The isolate required sterol for growth, fermented glucose, adsorbed and haemolysed erythrocytes, but did not hydrolyse arginine or urea. The strain was compared serologically against 110 previously described Mycoplasma reference strains, showing that, except for M. gallisepticum, strain 56A97T is not related to any of the previously described species, although weak cross-reactions were evident. Genomic information, serological reactions and phenotypic properties demonstrate that this organism represents a novel species of the genus Mycoplasma, for which the name Mycoplasma tullyi sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is 56A97T (ATCC BAA-1432T, DSM 21909T, NCTC 11747T).

Demographics of dogs, cats, and rabbits attending veterinary practices in Great Britain as recorded in their electronic health records.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the distribution and determinants of disease in animal populations must be underpinned by knowledge of animal demographics. For companion animals, these data have been difficult to collect because of the distributed nature of the companion animal veterinary industry. Here we describe key demographic features of a large veterinary-visiting pet population in Great Britain as recorded in electronic health records, and explore the association between a range of animal's characteristics and socioeconomic factors. RESULTS: Electronic health records were captured by the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET), from 143 practices (329 sites) in Great Britain. Mixed logistic regression models were used to assess the association between socioeconomic factors and species and breed ownership, and preventative health care interventions. Dogs made up 64.8% of the veterinary-visiting population, with cats, rabbits and other species making up 30.3, 2.0 and 1.6% respectively. Compared to cats, dogs and rabbits were more likely to be purebred and younger. Neutering was more common in cats (77.0%) compared to dogs (57.1%) and rabbits (45.8%). The insurance and microchipping relative frequency was highest in dogs (27.9 and 53.1%, respectively). Dogs in the veterinary-visiting population belonging to owners living in least-deprived areas of Great Britain were more likely to be purebred, neutered, insured and microchipped. The same association was found for cats in England and for certain parameters in Wales and Scotland. CONCLUSIONS: The differences we observed within these populations are likely to impact on the clinical diseases observed within individual veterinary practices that care for them. Based on this descriptive study, there is an indication that the population structures of companion animals co-vary with human and environmental factors such as the predicted socioeconomic level linked to the owner's address. This 'co-demographic' information suggests that further studies of the relationship between human demographics and pet ownership are warranted.

Analysis of gene expression from the Wolbachia genome of a filarial nematode supports both metabolic and defensive roles within the symbiosis.

The α-proteobacterium Wolbachia is probably the most prevalent, vertically transmitted symbiont on Earth. In contrast with its wide distribution in arthropods, Wolbachia is restricted to one family of animal-parasitic nematodes, the Onchocercidae. This includes filarial pathogens such as Onchocerca volvulus, the cause of human onchocerciasis, or river blindness. The symbiosis between filariae and Wolbachia is obligate, although the basis of this dependency is not fully understood. Previous studies suggested that Wolbachia may provision metabolites (e.g., haem, riboflavin, and nucleotides) and/or contribute to immune defense. Importantly, Wolbachia is restricted to somatic tissues in adult male worms, whereas females also harbor bacteria in the germline. We sought to characterize the nature of the symbiosis between Wolbachia and O. ochengi, a bovine parasite representing the closest relative of O. volvulus. First, we sequenced the complete genome of Wolbachia strain wOo, which revealed an inability to synthesize riboflavin de novo. Using RNA-seq, we also generated endobacterial transcriptomes from male soma and female germline. In the soma, transcripts for membrane transport and respiration were up-regulated, while the gonad exhibited enrichment for DNA replication and translation. The most abundant Wolbachia proteins, as determined by geLC-MS, included ligands for mammalian Toll-like receptors. Enzymes involved in nucleotide synthesis were dominant among metabolism-related proteins, whereas the haem biosynthetic pathway was poorly represented. We conclude that Wolbachia may have a mitochondrion-like function in the soma, generating ATP for its host. Moreover, the abundance of immunogenic proteins in wOo suggests a role in diverting the immune system toward an ineffective antibacterial response.

Cross-sectional United Kingdom surveys demonstrate that owners and veterinary professionals differ in their perceptions of preventive and treatment healthcare needs in ageing dogs.

Perceptions of dog owners and veterinary professionals (surgeons/nurses) can influence the preventive healthcare and treatment provided to dogs, especially at the senior life-stage, when chronic diseases become more common. This study compared perceptions of healthcare of dogs as they age between dog owners and veterinary professionals. Data from two online surveys (owners: N = 633, veterinary professionals: N = 305) examined perceived need for veterinary visits and vaccinations. In addition, 48 clinical signs were rated on perceived prevalence (whether owners' dogs had experienced them) and how urgently they should seek veterinary advice. Groups were compared using descriptive statistics and chi-square. Owners most often believed a 'healthy' senior dog (>7 years) should go to the vet once a year (47% owners vs. 25% veterinary professionals, p < 0.001), compared with veterinary professionals every 6 months (39 vs. 73%). A minority (14%) of owners would just take the dog 'if they got sick' but only 2% of veterinary professionals advised this, and 16% of owners of dogs of all ages had not had any contact with their veterinary practise in the previous year. Nearly all veterinary professionals (92%) believed that senior/geriatric dogs should receive yearly vaccinations. However, 28% of owners' dogs of all ages were not vaccinated in the previous year and, of these, 33% did not believe that older dogs need vaccinations. Only 10% of dogs considered 'old' by their owners had attended a senior wellness clinic or examination, despite 14% of practises offering them. The three most common clinical signs reported by owners were slowing down on walks (57%), dental tartar (53%) and being stiff on rising (50%). Owners perceived urgency to seek veterinary care was lower if they had experienced the clinical sign before. In the current study, dog owners and veterinary professionals differed in their opinions about the need for veterinary care, suggesting new educational initiatives, and more effective communication is required.

Setting clinically relevant thresholds for the notification of canine disease outbreaks to veterinary practitioners: an exploratory qualitative interview study.

Introduction: The Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) has developed mathematical models to analyse the veterinary practice and diagnostic laboratory data to detect genuine outbreaks of canine disease in the United Kingdom. There are, however, no validated methods available to establish the clinical relevance of these genuine statistical outbreaks before their formal investigation is conducted. This study aimed to gain an actionable understanding of a veterinary practitioner's preferences regarding which outbreak scenarios have a substantial impact on veterinary practice for six priority canine diseases in the United Kingdom. Methodology: An intensity sampling approach was followed to recruit veterinary practitioners according to their years of experience and the size of their practice. In-depth semi-structured and structured interviews were conducted to describe an outbreak notification and outbreak response thresholds for six canine endemic diseases, exotic diseases, and syndromes. These thresholds reflected participants' preferred balance between the levels of excess case incidence and predictive certainty of the detection system. Interviews were transcribed, and a thematic analysis was performed using NVivo 12. Results: Seven interviews were completed. The findings indicate higher preferred levels of predictive certainty for endemic diseases than for exotic diseases, ranging from 95 to 99% and 80 to 90%, respectively. The levels of excess case incidence were considered clinically relevant at values representing an increase of two to four times in the normal case incidence expectancy for endemic agents, such as parvovirus, and where they indicated a single case in the practice's catchment area for exotic diseases such as leishmaniosis and babesiosis. Conclusion: This study's innovative methodology uses veterinary practitioners' opinions to inform the selection of a notification threshold value in real-world applications of stochastic canine outbreak detection models. The clinically relevant thresholds derived from participants' needs will be used by SAVSNET to inform its outbreak detection system and to improve its response to canine disease outbreaks in the United Kingdom.

Evaluating ChatGPT text mining of clinical records for companion animal obesity monitoring.

BACKGROUND: Veterinary clinical narratives remain a largely untapped resource for addressing complex diseases. Here we compare the ability of a large language model (ChatGPT) and a previously developed regular expression (RegexT) to identify overweight body condition scores (BCS) in veterinary narratives pertaining to companion animals. METHODS: BCS values were extracted from 4415 anonymised clinical narratives using either RegexT or by appending the narrative to a prompt sent to ChatGPT, prompting the model to return the BCS information. Data were manually reviewed for comparison. RESULTS: The precision of RegexT was higher (100%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 94.81%-100%) than that of ChatGPT (89.3%, 95% CI 82.75%-93.64%). However, the recall of ChatGPT (100%, 95% CI 96.18%-100%) was considerably higher than that of RegexT (72.6%, 95% CI 63.92%-79.94%). LIMITATIONS: Prior anonymisation and subtle prompt engineering are needed to improve ChatGPT output. CONCLUSIONS: Large language models create diverse opportunities and, while complex, present an intuitive interface to information. However, they require careful implementation to avoid unpredictable errors.

Text mining for disease surveillance in veterinary clinical data: part one, the language of veterinary clinical records and searching for words.

The development of natural language processing techniques for deriving useful information from unstructured clinical narratives is a fast-paced and rapidly evolving area of machine learning research. Large volumes of veterinary clinical narratives now exist curated by projects such as the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) and VetCompass, and the application of such techniques to these datasets is already (and will continue to) improve our understanding of disease and disease patterns within veterinary medicine. In part one of this two part article series, we discuss the importance of understanding the lexical structure of clinical records and discuss the use of basic tools for filtering records based on key words and more complex rule based pattern matching approaches. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches highlighting the on-going potential value in using these "traditional" approaches but ultimately recognizing that these approaches constrain how effectively information retrieval can be automated. This sets the scene for the introduction of machine-learning methodologies and the plethora of opportunities for automation of information extraction these present which is discussed in part two of the series.

Risk factors for tick attachment in companion animals in Great Britain: a spatiotemporal analysis covering 2014-2021.

BACKGROUND: Ticks are an important driver of veterinary health care, causing irritation and sometimes infection to their hosts. We explored epidemiological and geo-referenced data from > 7 million electronic health records (EHRs) from cats and dogs collected by the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET) in Great Britain (GB) between 2014 and 2021 to assess the factors affecting tick attachment in an individual and at a spatiotemporal level. METHODS: EHRs in which ticks were mentioned were identified by text mining; domain experts confirmed those with ticks on the animal. Tick presence/absence records were overlaid with a spatiotemporal series of climate, environment, anthropogenic and host distribution factors to produce a spatiotemporal regression matrix. An ensemble machine learning spatiotemporal model was used to fine-tune hyperparameters for Random Forest, Gradient-boosted Trees and Generalized Linear Model regression algorithms, which were then used to produce a final ensemble meta-learner to predict the probability of tick attachment across GB at a monthly interval and averaged long-term through 2014-2021 at a spatial resolution of 1 km. Individual host factors associated with tick attachment were also assessed by conditional logistic regression on a matched case-control dataset. RESULTS: In total, 11,741 consultations were identified in which a tick was recorded. The frequency of tick records was low (0.16% EHRs), suggesting an underestimation of risk. That said, increased odds for tick attachment in cats and dogs were associated with younger adult ages, longer coat length, crossbreeds and unclassified breeds. In cats, males and entire animals had significantly increased odds of recorded tick attachment. The key variables controlling the spatiotemporal risk for tick attachment were climatic (precipitation and temperature) and vegetation type (Enhanced Vegetation Index). Suitable areas for tick attachment were predicted across GB, especially in forests and grassland areas, mainly during summer, particularly in June. CONCLUSIONS: Our results can inform targeted health messages to owners and veterinary practitioners, identifying those animals, seasons and areas of higher risk for tick attachment and allowing for more tailored prophylaxis to reduce tick burden, inappropriate parasiticide treatment and potentially TBDs in companion animals and humans. Sentinel networks like SAVSNET represent a novel complementary data source to improve our understanding of tick attachment risk for companion animals and as a proxy of risk to humans.

Large-scale spatial and temporal genetic diversity of feline calicivirus.

Feline calicivirus (FCV) is an important pathogen of domestic cats and a frequently used model of human caliciviruses. Here we use an epidemiologically rigorous sampling framework to describe for the first time the phylodynamics of a calicivirus at regional and national scales. A large number of FCV strains cocirculated in the United Kingdom at the national and community levels, with no strain comprising more than 5% and 14% of these populations, respectively. The majority of strains exhibited a relatively restricted geographical range, with only two strains (one field virus and one vaccine virus) spreading further than 100 km. None of the field strains were identified outside the United Kingdom. Temporally, while some strains persisted locally for the majority of the study, others may have become locally extinct. Evolutionary analysis revealed a radial phylogeny with little bootstrap support for nodes above the strain level. In most cases, spatially and temporally diverse strains intermingled in the phylogeny. Together, these data suggest that current FCV evolution is not associated with selective competition among strains. Rather, the genetic and antigenic landscape in each geographical location is highly complex, with many strains cocirculating. These variants likely exist at the community level by a combination of de novo evolution and occasional gene flow from the wider national population. This complexity provides a benchmark, for the first time, against which vaccine cross-protection at both local and national levels can be judged.

Characterisation of the genomes of four putative vesiculoviruses: tench rhabdovirus, grass carp rhabdovirus, perch rhabdovirus and eel rhabdovirus European X.

The complete coding sequences were determined for four putative vesiculoviruses isolated from fish. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis based on the predicted amino acid sequences of the five main proteins assigned tench rhabdovirus and grass carp rhabdovirus together with spring viraemia of carp and pike fry rhabdovirus to a lineage that was distinct from the mammalian vesiculoviruses. Perch rhabdovirus, eel virus European X, lake trout rhabdovirus 903/87 and sea trout virus were placed in a second lineage that was also distinct from the recognised genera in the family Rhabdoviridae. Establishment of two new rhabdovirus genera, "Perhabdovirus" and "Sprivivirus", is discussed.

Stakeholder opinion-led study to identify canine priority diseases for surveillance and control in the UK.

BACKGROUND: Many pathogens cause disease in dogs; however, meaningful surveillance in small companion animals is often only possible for the most impactful diseases. We describe the first stakeholder opinion-led approach to identify which canine infectious diseases should be prioritised for inclusion in surveillance and control strategies in the UK. METHODS: Participants were identified through a stakeholder analysis. A multicriteria decision analysis was undertaken to establish and weight epidemiological criteria for evaluating diseases, and a Delphi technique was employed to achieve a consensus among participants on the top-priority canine diseases. RESULTS: Nineteen stakeholders from multiple backgrounds participated in this study. Leptospirosis and parvovirus were identified as the top two endemic diseases of concern, while leishmaniosis and babesiosis were the top two exotic diseases. Respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases were identified as the top two syndromes of concern. LIMITATIONS: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of participants was reduced. Despite this, a representative multidisciplinary sample of relevant stakeholders contributed to the present study. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study are being used to inform the development of a future UK-wide epidemic response strategy. This methodology could provide a blueprint for other countries.

Dogs with cropped ears in the UK: A population-based study using electronic health records.

BACKGROUND: Ear cropping for cosmetic purposes was made illegal in the UK in 2006. Despite this, a lack of import regulations and celebrity and media influences mean cropped dogs are increasingly reported. METHODS: The demographics, temporal trends and patient-level associated factors for dogs with cropped ears were evaluated in a large sentinel population of dogs visiting UK veterinary practices. RESULTS: A total of 132 dogs with cropped ears were identified, with rates peaking in 2021. In 84 cases (63.6%), there was evidence of importation, most commonly from countries where cropping is also illegal, including Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia, Spain, Poland and Ireland. American Bulldogs, Dobermanns, Italian Mastiffs (Cane Corso), Bulldogs and Mastiffs were all significantly overrepresented. Affected dogs were more likely to be unneutered (odds ratio 11.04, 95% confidence interval 5.84-20.90). LIMITATIONS: The study likely underestimates true levels of ear cropping. Identified cases are from a sentinel network of veterinary practices, and as such may not be representative of the wider UK population. CONCLUSION: These data suggest a need to educate owners and veterinary surgeons about the welfare and legal implications of ear cropping. The data presented can inform future targeted policies in veterinary practices and at a governmental level.