In the United States food destined for pet consumption is normally safe for both the pets and the people who handle the food. The need for the cheap production of these food commodities and the fact that we live in a more global society has changed the sources of the components of pet food. As a result, there have been several occurrences of zoonotic infectious disease transmission and toxicities. Salmonella present in dog treats and pet food has sickened people that handle them or were in contact with their pets while shedding such bacteria. These outbreaks were due to contamination during processing, probably preventable, but definitely not malicious. In some other instances, such as in the case of melamine toxicosis, the introduction was deliberate in an effort to profit through the fraudulent substitution of an adulterant. The University of Georgia, through its ?One Health? initiative, is committed to promoting, training, and conducting research in all areas of animal, human and environmental health. The College of Veterinary Medicine and the State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have a duty to the state and to its constituents to not only perform diagnosis but also to monitor trends and report unusual disease presentations or patterns. Our laboratory takes this responsibility very seriously, and over the years our faculty members have published articles with such findings. Furthermore, we were the first laboratory to diagnose melamine toxicosis in dogs due to contaminated components present in canned pet food. We were not only able to describe the outbreak in the US, but also by working with our network of collaborators, link it to an outbreak in Korea. Moreover, the PI has worked extensively in the study of the chicken gut micro-biome, including the distribution of antimicrobial resistance, and the epidemiology of Salmonella in wildlife and the environment. Our laboratory has expertise in the areas of pathology, bacteriology, parasitology, virology, serology, and molecular biology, including high throughput platform testing. Our faculty and staff are highly qualified and are devoted to animal and public health. Our commitment is evident in our participation in many programs at the state and national levels. We are one of the core laboratories of the National Animal Health laboratory Network (NAHLN) and participate in all NAHLN surveillance testing. In addition, we are have participated in another cooperative agreement with the FDA assessing the presence of Salmonella in turkey-based pet treats as well as engaging in an epidemiological study looking at the prevalence of Salmonella in dog and cat feces (1U8FD004318-01) and the potential risk factors for Salmonella carriage. Furthermore, we are currently on the last year of our first competitive renewal of the 1U18FD004623-01-infrastructure grant, for which here by we are seeking renewal. We have been very responsive to all the requirements of this grant to date. Therefore, Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the PI in this application are uniquely positioned to assist the FDA in meeting the important goals of the project described in this competitive renewal.
Significance Pets are these days ?members? of the modern family. As such they share intimate contact with the people in the household. In addition, feeding our pets has become a commercial enterprise with a proliferation of ?treats? and diet fads such as ?raw diets?. There is more and more competition in this market with the need to obtain basic ingredients from cheaper and cheaper sources. Furthermore, this area of the food market ?not-for human consumption? is not very regulated. Therefore, infectious diseases, toxicosis both due to deliberate or accidental tampering are becoming more common. Protecting the health of our pets and their human families is an important health issue. We are in a world where health has to be defined; as ?One Health? where people, animals, and the environment are evaluated together.
