Aroma Pets

Dog walkers warned of adder risk as hot and dry weather sees snakes sunbathe in the grass

Dog walkers have been warned that their pets are at risk of being bitten by adders after the hot and dry weather coaxed them out of hibernation to sunbathe in the grass.

The warning was issued after vets in the West Country had to give life-saving emergency treatment to six pet dogs that were bitten by adders in the space of five days.

Hattie Algar, a veterinary surgeon at Penmellyn Vet Group in Cornwall, said: "Keep your dog on a lead, especially if you're walking in sand dunes or grassland.

"Keep your eyes to the ground and if you do see any black and white snakes do give them a very wide berth. More adders have been spotted basking in the sun on popular clifftop paths near Kynance Cove on The Lizard peninsula, owned by the National Trust, at the far tip of Cornwall."

The settled weather since the Easter break has bathed the country in sunshine, although rain is set to gradually make its way south from Scotland from Monday.

Only about a foot to 18 inches long, their venom can put people in hospital though they rarely attack unless they feel threatened or they're defending their young.

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly coastguards said: "The National Trust rangers out near Kynance Cove and some other local agencies have reported that adders have woken up and have been seen enjoying the sunshine.

"If you think you have been bitten by a snake out on the coast path and need medical assistance call 999 and ask for immediate help. "Telling the doctors the colour and pattern of the snake that bit you could help them treat it.

"Adders are grey or reddish-brown, with a dark zig-zag shaped stripe down their back."

There are two other species of snake found wild in Britain - the grass snake, which can grow to four or five feet, and the much smaller smooth snake - but they are harmless.

Coastguards said: "Grass snakes are usually green, with dark spots down their sides and yellow and black bands around their neck.

"Smooth snakes are usually grey or brown with a dark pattern. The pattern down their backs are lighter and less zig-zag shaped than on adders."

Adders love open heaths and grassy banks, and are often found on clifftops and seaside dunes.

The Reptile and Amphibian Conservation Trust say there have been 14 recorded human deaths from adder bites since 1876.

Between 50 and 100 people are bitten each year, but three in four victims have only a 'negligible' reaction.

However the elderly and frail can die without urgent treatment.

Normally adders are shy, and the hustle and bustle of pre-Covid 19 life meant they were rarely seen, slithering away before people saw them.

But the new-found peace in the countryside has made them bolder because there are fewer people about.

They are now emerging from hibernation and the males will be seeking females to mate.

Adders hibernate over winter and emerge in spring - this is when the likelihood of being bitten is highest.

The snakes often bask in the sun and inquisitive dogs that stumble upon them are most often bitten around the face, muzzle and front paws.

Meanwhile, two male adders were pictured twisting and writhing as they battled for the alpha status in the Scottish Highlands. 

The age old ritual - where male adders fight other males which stray onto their territory or threaten their female partners - is rarely captured on camera.

But the scene was caught by wildlife photographer Colin Black, 49, earlier this week on the fringe of the Cairngorms National Park.H ave you spotted any snakes sunbathing in the hot and dry weather?  

Reference: The Telegraph: Gareth Davies  1 day ago 

Bomb-sniffing rats to be recruited by British Army

The British Army is set to recruit bomb sniffing rats after Porton Down scientists designed a high-tech system to train rodents, the Telegraph can reveal.

The animals’ acute sense of smell could be used to track down explosives, drugs or firearms to help combat organised criminal gangs and terrorists, as well as clear landmines in war torn countries. The rodents could even be trained to identify people with coronavirus.

A patent, lodged by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and Defence Secretary, Ben Wallace, explains that while training sniffer dogs can be costly and time consuming, “rodents - rats in particular” can be trained relatively cheaply.

The scientists have drawn up plans for a computerised carousel system to deliver a variety of sample smells to the rat, creating a more realistic environment compared to the current method of providing separate and isolated aromas one after the other.

While it can take up to a year to teach a rat to detect explosives in both a lab and out in the field, it is hoped this compact invention could cut training time and eliminate fieldwork.

The 22-page application, filed with the Intellectual Property Office, explains how the rodent enters a chamber before a light signals tests have begun. 

A motorised carousel delivers at least eight odours, and if the rat correctly identifies the target scent when it wafts in amid the other smells it receives a reward.

“The reward device may comprise a retractable lever and food hopper,” the document says. “By virtue of the rodent pressing the retractable lever, a pellet of food may be released into the rodent housing from the food hopper.

“The retractable lever, once pressed, may then retract out of the housing to ensure it is not repeatedly pressed.

“The food pellet may only be released into the rodent housing if the rodent presses the retractable lever upon being presented with a particular odour sample at the sample window i.e. the rodent has successfully identified the odour sample.

“In situations where the rodent presses the retractable lever upon being presented with … a false sample, or no sample odour at all, the lever may be retracted ... and no further opportunities are provided for pressing it - instead a warning light may be illuminated ... to indicate an incorrect decision by the rodent.”

Giant African pouched rats have proven highly effective in tracing landmines in countries including Mozambique, Cambodia and Angola, in part because they are light enough not to trigger the explosive devices.

Christopher Cox, chief executive of APOPO, a not-for-profit Belgium-based organisation which has trained more than 80 landmine detecting rats, said it currently takes up to a year for a rodent to “graduate”.

“Once a rat is trained on one particular scent, it can be trained on another very quickly because the animal will have learnt the process,” he said.

© Provided by The Telegraph The rodents who can smell danger

APOPO ‘tutors’ expose their ‘Hero Rats’ to a line of different smells separately before rewarding them if they identify the target. Mr Cox believes “in the field” training remains vital to ensure the animals are totally effective.

The organisation hopes to train rats to sniff out chemical compounds in coronavirus, as well as using them for search and rescue missions following natural disasters. 

A spokeswoman for DSTL in Salisbury said the Ministry of Defence “does not currently use rats as military working animals”, adding how this patent and recent research will be used to improve the training of detection dogs.

Last year, APOPO rat Magawa was awarded a gold medal after detecting 39 landmines and 28 unexploded munitions.

The animal charity PDSA presented it the award for “life-saving devotion to duty, in the location and clearance of deadly landmines in Cambodia”.

The seven year old rat weighs 1.2kg and measures 28 inches (70cm) and can search a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes. It cleared 141,000sq metres of land, equivalent to 20 football pitches. 

Reference: The Telegraph: Steve Bird  2 days ago

Highly contagious virus killing dogs was flatlining before Covid – but could that soon change?

Cathy Ball’s puppy, a labrador retriever called Paisley, was only 10 weeks old when it became apparent that something wasn’t right. Lethargy, vomiting and little interest in her food – the early signs of parvovirus, a highly infectious and often fatal disease in young dogs, were there to see.

A vet herself, Cathy brought Paisley into her clinic in Sandbach, Cheshire, and got her tested for the virus. When the result later came back positive, Paisley was just two days away from a second vaccine jab that would have further boosted her protection against the pathogen.

A five-day-long battle for survival soon followed. Despite the baseline immunity she had already acquired, Paisley desperately needed intensive care treatment, and was given a feeding tube and anti-nausea medication to stop her being sick. 

For Cathy, it was an agonising wait. She knew that most puppies infected with parvovirus don’t survive. The fatality rate can range anywhere between 68 and 92 per cent. “I’ve seen so many dogs die from this, so I had to be realistic about her prospects,” says Cathy.

It eventually proved to be a happy ending for Cathy and Paisley, who pulled through after the closest of encounters with death. “It was a week before I got her back and that was the longest week of my life,” says Cathy.

Other owners haven’t been so lucky. The virus still kills dogs on a monthly basis in the UK, and infects even more, but cases appeared to have flatlined in the years before Covid-19. Now, fears are rising that parvovirus could surge nationally after a boom in puppy sales during lockdown.

Registrations of new puppies jumped by 26 per cent between April and June of last year, with many first-time owners turning to illegal breeders and “puppy mills”, where guidance and support for crucial vaccinations is absent. Dogs sold within this black market are also more likely to suffer from poor health and be vulnerable to disease. 

Lockdown, too, has made it harder for owners to get their dogs vaccinated against parvovirus, especially those buying puppies through unofficial avenues. According to research shared by My Family Vets, the UK’s largest group of veterinary practices, some 45 per cent of registered pet owners haven’t received their initial vaccination course or subsequent boosters.

“Due to the lockdown puppy boom and the whole Covid situation, ensuring preventative health care has been correctly followed for all pets has been a real challenge,” says Edward Davies, chairman of the UK clinical board at My Family Vets. “The potential resurgence of parvo has been quite a worry during this time.”

Separate research from Vets Now, which runs more than 60 emergency clinics nationwide, shows a 129 per cent increase in suspected parvovirus cases across its network in the first three months of 2021, compared with the same period in 2020 – up from 24 to 55 infections.

“Unfortunately we are seeing dogs presenting with sickness and diarrhoea symptoms on a daily basis at the moment, which is not the normal pattern,” says Lara Wilson, a lead veterinary surgeon at the Vets Now pet emergency hospital in Glasgow, one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

She added that the Covid-19 pandemic has “resulted in a huge increase in dogs testing positive for canine parvovirus”.

However, others aren’t so sure. According to the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (Savsnet), a team at Liverpool University dedicated to detecting disease outbreaks in animals, there have been no recent indications that parvovirus is surging.

Savsnet collects its data from a large network of veterinary practices and diagnostic laboratories, which are used to confirm suspected parvovirus cases. “We assess millions and millions of records,” says Alan Radford, a professor in veterinary health informatics at Liverpool University. “We can use them to try to understand what’s going on at a population level.”

After carrying out an analysis for The Independent, the Savsnet team found “no evidence that cases of parvovirus have gone up considerably on a national or large regional level”.

However, Prof Radford says, “just because we’re not seeing these patterns, that doesn’t preclude the possibility of very localised outbreaks”. 

He explains that Savsnet doesn’t collect data compiled by a number of different sources, pointing to the example of charity-based vet clinics, such as People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals, which accommodate dog owners who “can’t afford to go to regular veterinary practices and are perhaps less likely to vaccinate”.

This means that even if cases are rising within these communities and demographics, Savsnet will be “blind” to such trends. The same concept applies to the Vets Now research. As an out-of-hours service that cares for pets requiring emergency treatment, their data isn’t incorporated into Savsnet’s analysis.

And one of the main challenges with parvovirus is confirming a positive case in the first place. “It makes animals really sick, but the clinical signs are not 100 per cent diagnostic of parvo,” says Prof Radford. “Vets can have suspicions, but they can’t be sure. You have to do a test.”

When their animal is struck down with vomiting or diarrhoea, most owners simply won’t bother with an expensive diagnostics test, as the required treatment is unlikely to change depending on the outcome of the test. “The puppy will need fluid therapy, whether they’ve got parvovirus or not,” says Prof Radford.

Such factors render it almost impossible to present a clear picture of the prevalence of parvovirus in Britain’s dog population. Other pathogens also cannot be ruled out as responsible for some of the apparent spikes in parvovirus-like symptoms that have been reported by vets at one point or another over the past 12 months.

Last summer, Savsnet detected a rise in intestinal coronavirus among dogs (which was not linked in any way to Covid-19) that sparked increased cases of vomiting or diarrhoea on a nationwide population level.

Either way, experts have warned that owners need to be alert to the dangers that unvaccinated or vaccinated puppies are facing, especially with higher numbers of vulnerable dogs in the population and consequently greater opportunities for general transmission.

“Parvovirus is very, very infectious,” says Dr Simon Clegg, a senior lecturer in animal health and disease at the University of Lincoln. “It’s shed in huge numbers when an animal is infected and it’s very environmentally stable,” meaning it can survive outside – on a tree, a patch of grass, a blanket or a play toy – for months on end.

“If you do get one case, there are typically a couple of others that follow it,” Dr Clegg adds. “I’ve personally not seen an increase, but there is the potential for it now.

“I think it is almost a case of just reminding people to vaccinate. The vaccine is excellent and offers great protection.”

Reference: Independent: Samuel Lovett  6 hrs ago

Scientists create human monkey embryo and now Planet of the Apes is haunting us all 

The first human-monkey embryos have been created and kept alive for up to 20 days – and people are concerned.

The hybrids were made by injecting human stem cells into macaque embryos in a US lab, creating what is known as a chimera.

Researchers from the Salk Institute in California said their work, which was published in the journal Cell, aimed to understand more about early human development.

However, a number of ethicists in the UK have warned that this type of work “poses significant ethical and legal challenges” and “opens Pandora’s box to human-nonhuman chimeras”.

Meanwhile, all social media users can think about is Planet of the Apes.

Here’s how people have responded on Twitter since news of the experiment emerged:

Almost a good idea for a movie....could call it Planet of the Apes. https://t.co/c41Q16l8kD

— Ryan (@kayakautopilot) April 15, 2021

Well, in the original and most recent iterations of the Planet of the Apes films, it all got started with a global pandemic. pic.twitter.com/tufQ8Jza6z

— Scott K., AIA☠️☣️Plague Architect☣️☠️ (@DarkAgent1984) April 15, 2021

What could go wrong? https://t.co/IZUs8WKCCv pic.twitter.com/4Ycr67Q1vy

— Meisterbuerger (@meisterbuerger) April 15, 2021

Every science fiction author or reader: SERIOUSLY?! https://t.co/xS6N4L0BAY

— N. K. Jemisin (@nkjemisin) April 15, 2021

MAYBE DON'T pic.twitter.com/65CL4I41fK

— B. Dave Walters: I Say Words About Things (@BDaveWalters) April 16, 2021

Don't worry guys, we'll have Planet of the Apes before we have a zombie apocalypse. https://t.co/DL5cUtrjuo

— The Walking Dead (@TheWalkingDead) April 15, 2021

Apes showing up at the opening bell in the morning ???? PLANET OF THE APES!!! #AMC pic.twitter.com/m1LfHgrrmX

— KONG WHISPERER (@MedicMom77) April 15, 2021

Chimeras are organisms whose cells come from two or more individuals.

In humans, chimerism can naturally occur following organ transplants, where cells from that organ start growing in other parts of the body.

The human-monkey researchers, led by Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, say their work could help address the severe shortage in transplantable organs as well as help understand more about disease progression and ageing.

Prof Izpisua Belmonte said: “These chimeric approaches could be really very useful for advancing biomedical research not just at the very earliest stage of life, but also the latest stage of life.”

In 2017, he and his team created the first human-pig hybrid, where they incorporated human cells into early-stage pig tissue but found that human cells in this environment had poor molecular communication.

So the team decided to investigate lab-grown chimeras using a more closely related species – macaques.

The human-monkey chimeric embryos were monitored in the lab for 19 days before being destroyed.

According to the scientists, the results showed that human stem cells “survived and integrated with better relative efficiency than in the previous experiments in pig tissue”.

The team said understanding more about how cells of different species communicate with each other could provide an “unprecedented glimpse into the earliest stages of human development” as well as offer scientists a “powerful tool” for research on regenerative medicine.

Prof Izpisua Belmonte maintains that their work has met the current ethical and legal guidelines, adding: “As important for health and research as we think these results are, the way we conducted this work, with utmost attention to ethical considerations and by coordinating closely with regulatory agencies, is equally important.

“Ultimately, we conduct these studies to understand and improve human health.”

However, Prof Julian Savulescu, director of the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and co-director of the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, University of Oxford, warned: “This research opens Pandora’s box to human-nonhuman chimeras.”

He said: “These embryos were destroyed at 20 days of development but it is only a matter of time before human-nonhuman chimeras are successfully developed, perhaps as a source of organs for humans. That is one of the long-term goals of this research.

“The key ethical question is: what is the moral status of these novel creatures? Before any experiments are performed on live-born chimeras, or their organs extracted, it is essential that their mental capacities and lives are properly assessed.”

Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust, said that while “substantial advances” are being made in embryo and stem cell research, which could bring equally substantial benefits, “there is a clear need for public discussion and debate about the ethical and regulatory challenges raised”.

Twitter’s number one plea? Please don’t let the apes take over the world. 

Reference: Indy 100: Harriet Brewis  13 hrs ago