Veterian Key

TAPEWORMS (CESTODES) Tapeworms are flat worms that live in the intestinal tracts of their hosts. Adult tapeworms cause little damage to their hosts beyond robbing the host of some micronutrients,…

SCABIES Scabies is a skin disease caused by mites. It is also known as sarcoptic mange, sarcoptic itch, and the 7-year itch. Normally an animal species has its own species…

DERMATOMYCOSIS A dermatomycosis is a highly contagious skin disease caused by fungi. It affects both people and animals. Other names for a dermatomycosis are tinea, ringworm, jock itch, and athlete’s…

LYME DISEASE Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that affects many systems in the body. It is transmitted by tick bites and has become the most common arthropod-borne, human disease…

TULAREMIA Tularemia is a bacterial infection, commonly known as rabbit fever or deer tick fever. The disease is endemic to certain areas of the United States and is highly infectious….

ROUNDWORMS Roundworms belong to the phylum Nematoda, which contains worms that are round and unsegmented. Members of this phylum are called nematodes. There are thousands of genera of nematodes, but…

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is the most severe and most commonly reported tick-borne rickettsial disease in the United States. RMSF has been reported in every…

WESTERN EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS Western equine encephalitis is a viral disease of horses and humans. It is seen mostly west of the Mississippi River in the United States and in corresponding…

WEST NILE VIRUS INFECTION West Nile virus (WNV) infection is more widespread throughout North America than any of the other equine encephalitides. WNV was originally identified in Europe, Africa (Uganda),…

TOXOPLASMOSIS Cats have gotten a bad rap about how they transmit toxoplasmosis to humans and how they cause spontaneous abortion in women and blindness and mental retardation in newborns and…