Category: Animal Health

Keep your four-legged friends happy and safe this summer

By Merritt Melancon

As an undergraduate student in Brazil, Daniela Lourenco knew that she loved statistics and genetics, but she wasn’t sure where that passion would take her.

Then an introductory course in animal breeding genetics — the same class she now teaches to undergraduates at the University of Georgia — set her on a path that has allowed her to collaborate with scientists around the world.

“My husband (who is also an animal scientist) told me there was this very cool class called ‘Animal Breeding Genetics.’ He said, ‘It works a lot with both genetics and statistics. I think you’ll like it,’” Lourenco said.

She took a plant genetics course too but found livestock genetics much more exciting.

“I like statistics and math and genetics, and this field combines everything,” she said.

Lourenco, who first came to UGA to finish her doctoral research, serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Animal and Dairy Science. Her research focused on using big data analytics to improve livestock breeding, which is still her focus today.

For years, breeders used information about an individual’s lineage and phenotypes to rate that animal’s breeding value. The advent of advanced genetics and genomic technology gave breeders access to thousands of more data points to analyze before making breeding decisions.

Lourenco helped to develop a one-step method for integrating genomic information about each animal with their phenotype and lineage information to produce a breeding value for each animal. She also helped implement this one-step method for the American Angus Association for both Angus and Charolais beef cattle, and she helped resolve one-step evaluations for dairy cattle, pigs, chicken and fish, including catfish and rainbow trout.

Working with a team of geneticists and programmers in the UGA Animal Breeding and Genetics Group, she has helped to improve software that is used all over the world. Scientists often visit Athens, Georgia, to work with the group, and Lourenco now travels to consult and speak so often that, in a single year, she has earned enough airline miles to travel around the world almost three times.

Currently, she’s working to refine software models for millions of animals and improve the accuracy of the estimated breeding values (EBVs) the models generate.

“When EBVs are published, they are published with a measure of accuracy, and this accuracy is rated from 0 to 1,” she said. “We are trying to find a better way to estimate the accuracy of the EBVs. If we have small data, then we can calculate the accuracy easily, but we have large data. It is very costly, so we are trying to find a better way to approximate the accuracy to the EBV.”

For more information about Lourenco’s work, visit the UGA Animal and Breeding Group website at nce.ads.uga.edu.

Man’s best friend now has access to a much-needed medical device, thanks to a partnership between The Medical Center, Navicent Health, or MCNH, and the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. The partners’ Pacemaker Donation Program provides heart patients at MCNH the option of donating their used pacemakers to canine heart patients at UGA.

Like humans, dogs are at risk for developing cardiac complications that can interfere with length and quality of life. Knowing that surgeries to address heart problems in dogs can be very expensive, one Navicent Health nurse decided to take action to help dogs in need of cardiac care.

“The similarities between how animals and humans are treated for certain diseases are very strong. When I was studying to become a nurse 20 years ago, I learned that pacemakers for human beings could be utilized in dogs, as well,” said Terri Matula, a board-certified cardiovascular nurse at MCNH.

At the time, Matula owned a cocker spaniel that suffered from third-degree heart block dysrhythmia. She knew that pacemaker implantation might be a solution to help her dog live a longer and healthier life, but as a student, she did not have the means to pay for the operation. That memory came to Matula’s mind when her husband, Robert Driver, needed to have his own pacemaker upgraded.

“I asked his cardiology team if I could keep the pacemaker after they replaced it and then called the University of Georgia to find out if I could donate the device to the College of Veterinary Medicine,” said Matula.

Matula felt confident that the experts at UGA would be able to make good use of the pacemaker. Her instincts were right. After learning that she could donate her husband’s pacemaker for a dog in need of the device, she presented her idea to the cardiac administration team at MCNH, connecting them with experts from UGA. Her recommendation has launched a thriving collaboration between MCNH and UGA.

“When a patient’s pacemaker is exchanged, upgraded or replaced, the patient is offered the option of donating their used device to the Pacemaker Donation Program. Everyone—our staff and our patients—has been excited to save the lives of animals with reusable devices,” said Beth Mann, vice president for cardiovascular services and nursing strategy at Navicent.

Since the inception of the Pacemaker Donation Program in 2018, 41 pacemakers have been donated for patients at UGA. Once the pacemakers are explanted at MCNH, they are sterilized and shipped to UGA. Only the pacemakers of living donors are used for the program. Many of the pacemakers have at least five and a half years of battery life remaining, offering aging dogs the opportunity for many more evening walks and games of fetch. The pacemakers with less battery life are useful as teaching tools in the classroom for UGA’s veterinary students.

“Developing a relationship with Navicent Health and our cardiology service has been a really rewarding experience. It has been a great example of teamwork and of selflessness and generosity on the part of Navicent Health and its patients,” said Gregg Rapaport, a veterinary cardiologist at UGA.

Any pet owner whose canine receives care from UGA can participate in the pacemaker program. UGA typically implants five to 10 pacemakers into dogs each year, and to date, six dogs have received pacemakers donated by patients at Navicent Health.

According to Rapaport, the program is an example of the difference one person can make.

“None of this would be possible without Terri Matula and Gordon Thomas, a member of our development team here at UGA. This project demonstrates that with some creativity and a desire to share with others, solutions can be found. Each donated pacemaker that has benefited a person will now have benefited a dog, as well. The same resource will have positively impacted twice as many lives with no downside to anyone, and we can all feel good about that,” Rapaport said.

Patients with pacemakers in need of replacement who wish to donate to a dog in need may talk with their Navicent Health care team about participating in the Pacemaker Donation Program.

About Navicent Health
Navicent Health, the leading provider of healthcare in central and south Georgia, is committed to its mission of elevating health and wellbeing through compassionate care. Providing more than 1,000 beds and offering care in 53 specialties at more than 50 facilities throughout the region, Navicent Health provides care for healthcare consumers’ through an academic medical center; community, pediatric and rehabilitation hospitals; urgent care centers; physician practices; diagnostic centers; home health; hospice and palliative care; and a life plan community. Navicent Health is dedicated enhancing health and wellness for individuals throughout the region through nationally-recognized quality care, community health initiatives and collaborative partnerships. For more information, please visit http://www.navicenthealth.org.

By James Hataway

A newly installed artificial termite mound is helping University of Georgia doctoral student Caroline Jones study and understand the social behaviors of two groups of western lowland gorillas housed at Zoo Atlanta.

The termite mound, which is made of steel and concrete, was built by UGA’s Instrument Design and Fabrication Shop. Weighing in at nearly 3,000 pounds, the mound contains seven holes that zookeepers can fill with oatmeal, peanut butter, gelatin and other tasty treats.

Just like humans, gorillas are incredibly social animals, but they also value their space. While they live in groups, they don’t particularly like being close.

“Group members usually prefer to be several meters away from each other,” said Jones, who is conducting the research as part of her dissertation. “What we want to know is if and how the gorillas at Zoo Atlanta will be willing to sacrifice their space for the benefit of delicious foods.”

In the wild, western lowland gorillas mainly eat fruit, which is often only available in small amounts. This can lead to intense competition as they forage.

“The termite mound will prevent the gorillas from picking up handfuls of food and taking it to another location away from group members,” Jones said. “We can also control when and how much food is available to the group.”

Jones and a team of undergraduate research assistants will record the gorillas’ use of space within the habitat and how they interact around this shared resource.

The data they record will allow Jones and other researchers to better understand the complex relationships formed in gorilla communities and how their social behaviors influence their well-being both in natural habitats and zoo environments.

When her research project is completed, the termite mound will remain as a permanent part of the gorilla habitat.

Case of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) has been found in a Georgia horse

According to UGA researchers, Bromethalin, a rat poison, is responsible for a neurological disease that has sickened or killed birds from a flock of naturalized parrots.

UGA’s stature as a leader in animal health is supported by world-class faculty, state-of-the-art facilities and nearly 75 years of experience

NSF grant funds research on epigenetics