Deer may be reservoir for SARS-Cov-2 variants, study suggestsFebruary 6, 2023The evolution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from humans to white-tailed deer, and its transmission ability in the deer population is the driving force behind the study conducted by the Cornell Veterinary Medicine (CVM). The study, "White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) May Serve as a Wildlife Reservoir for Nearly Extinct SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, looks into the role of the white-tailed deer in the epidemiology and ecology of the virus. The study focused on the deer population in New York. "One of the most striking findings of this study was the detection of co-circulation of three variants of concern–alpha, gamma and delta–in this wild animal population," says Diego Diel, DVM, MS, PhD, associate professor of population medicine and diagnostic sciences and director of the Virology Laboratory at the Cornell University CVM Animal Health Diagnostic Center. While the exact cause remains unknown, research indicates that over the course of the pandemic, deer have become infected with SARS-CoV-2 through contact with humans, possibly from hunting, wildlife rehabilitations, feeding of wild animals or through wastewater or water sources. This study was made possible …
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Cornell team develops horse anatomy app for studentsMay 9, 2019An app created by a team from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is helping students learn and understand the anatomy of a horse. According to the Cornell Chronicle, the Equine X-Ray Positioning Simulator is an augmented reality app that overlays a digital image of a horse limb onto surroundings seen through an iPad. The app was first used in the spring during CVM's eight-week Anatomy of the Horse course. Allison Miller, DVM, lecturer in the department of biomedical sciences and the department of clinical sciences, helped create the app to allow students to study parts of the equine musculoskeletal system. "We try really hard not to teach anatomy as memorization," Dr. Miller told the news source. According to the same article, Miller had students complete exercises such as dragging and dropping bone labels onto parts of a horse's body. "Students can hear a lecture on how to take certain oblique radiographic views, but actually positioning yourself to take them might prove more challenging," Miller told the Cornell Chronicle. "While nothing can fully prepare you for an emergency where you have primary case responsibility and emotions are running high, I think we are doing our absolute best to prepare …
