Public health efforts to prevent expansion of alcohol retail availability in neighbourhoods with factors associated with high rates of alcohol-related harms: A case report.

This commentary illustrates a recent case study within Ontario, Canada, in which the application of sociodemographic and health data was used by public health to support a legal case to oppose a retail licence application to consume liquor at a corner store located within a neighbourhood that has experienced low socio-economic factors, including low income, high unemployment and low educational attainment levels. Communities in a similar situation may draw from this situation to prevent expansion of alcohol retail availability in neighbourhoods that have low socio-economic status populations and high unemployment and other factors associated with high rates of alcohol-related harms.

Can North American animal poison control center call data provide early warning of outbreaks associated with contaminated pet food? Using the 2007 melamine pet food contamination incident as a case study.

The 2007 melamine pet food contamination incident highlighted the need for enhanced reporting of toxicological exposures and development of a national quantitative disease surveillance system for companion animals. Data from poison control centers, such as the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), may be useful for conducting real-time surveillance in this population. In this study, we explored the suitability of APCC call data for early warning of toxicological incidents in companion animal populations by using a-priori knowledge of the melamine-related nephrotoxicosis outbreak. Patient and household-level information regarding possible toxicological exposures in dogs and cats reported to the APCC from 2005 to 2007, inclusive, were extracted from the APCC's AnTox database. These data were used to examine the impact of surveillance outcome, statistical methodology, analysis level, and call source on the ability to detect the outbreak prior to the voluntary recall issued by the pet food manufacturer. Retrospective Poisson temporal scan tests were applied for each combination of outcome, method, level, and call source. The results showed that month-adjusted scans using syndromic data may have been able to help detect the outbreak up to two months prior to the voluntary recall although the success of these methods varied across call sources. We also demonstrated covariate month-adjustment can lead to vastly different results based on the surveillance outcome and call source to which it is applied. This illustrates care should be taken prior to arbitrarily selecting a surveillance outcome and statistical model for surveillance efforts and warns against ignoring the impacts of call source or key covariates when applying quantitative surveillance methods to APCC call data since these factors can lead to very different results. This study provides further evidence that APCC call data may be useful for conducting surveillance in the US companion animal population and further exploratory analyses and validation studies are warranted.

The impact of state cannabis legislation, county-level socioeconomic and dog-level characteristics on reported cannabis poisonings of companion dogs in the USA (2009-2014).

With current trends in cannabis legalization, large efforts are being made to understand the effects of less restricted legislation on human consumption, health, and abuse of these products. Little is known about the effects of cannabis legalization and increased cannabis use on vulnerable populations, such as dogs. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of different state-level cannabis legislation, county-level socioeconomic factors, and dog-level characteristics on dog cannabis poisoning reports to an animal poison control center (APCC). Data were obtained concerning reports of dog poisoning events, county characteristics, and state cannabis legislation from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' (ASPCA) APCC, the US Census Bureau, and various public policy-oriented and government websites, respectively. A multilevel logistic regression model with random intercepts for county and state was fitted to investigate the associations between the odds of a call to the APCC being related to a dog being poisoned by a cannabis product and the following types of variables: dog characteristics, county-level socioeconomic characteristics, and the type of state-level cannabis legislation. There were significantly higher odds of a call being related to cannabis in states with lower penalties for cannabis use and possession. The odds of these calls were higher in counties with higher income variability, higher percentage of urban population, and among smaller, male, and intact dogs. These calls increased throughout the study period (2009-2014). Reporting of cannabis poisonings were more likely to come from veterinarians than dog owners. Reported dog poisonings due to cannabis appear to be influenced by dog-level and community-level factors. This study may increase awareness to the public, public health, and veterinary communities of the effects of recreational drug use on dog populations. This study highlights the need to educate dog owners about safeguarding cannabis products from vulnerable populations.

Companion animal exposures to potentially poisonous substances reported to a national poison control center in the United States in 2005 through 2014.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate data concerning suspected companion animal exposures to possibly hazardous substances reported during telephone calls to the US Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) for characterization of dog and cat exposures to potentially toxic substances in the United States. SAMPLE: Household-level poisonings events involving dogs and cats in the United States that were reported to the APCC in 2005 through 2014. PROCEDURES: Substances involved in reported poisonings of dogs and cats were classified into 20 general categories, and descriptive statistical analysis was used to examine the most common categories. Case fatality ratios were estimated for all exposure categories for which a final outcome status of the affected animal was documented. RESULTS: Over the 10-year study period, 241,261 household-level poisoning events were reported to the APCC from across the United States, of which 86.0% and 14.0% involved dogs and cats, respectively. The most common agent categories reported for dogs included human medicines, foods, and pesticides. The most common agent categories reported for cats included human medicines, plants, and veterinary medicines. Chocolate and Lilium plants were the most commonly reported exposures of dogs and cats, respectively. Fluorouracil (65.2%) and bifenthrin (66.7%) were found to have the highest case fatality ratio for dogs and cats, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The APCC call data can be used to identify the most common toxicological exposures of dogs and cats, understand the epidemiological aspects of these poisonings, and inform education programs for owners and veterinarians. Data from the APCC may be suitable for surveillance of toxicological exposures of companion animals in the United States.