The identification and prevalence of veterinary clinical events in U.S. military working dogs deployed to Iraq between March 20, 2003, and December 31, 2007

Objective. The purpose of this study was to identify the medical issues experienced by Military Working Dogs during their period of deployment in Iraq.^ Design. This study was a retrospective cross-sectional survey based on database and medical record abstraction.^ Population. Military Working Dogs (MWDs) that were deployed to Iraq at any time between 20 March 2003 and 31 December 2007 were the inclusive population of interest. Seven hundred ninety-five (795) MWDs were identified as having been deployed to Iraq during the inclusive dates. Four hundred ninety-six (496) MWDs were identified that had medical events during the deployment period. ^ Procedures. Eligible MWDs were identified through several sources, to include database query, medical record abstraction questionnaire, and medical record abstraction. Demographic information collected for each MWD included tattoo, name, age, gender, breed, Branch of Service, and duty certification. Information on each veterinary/medical clinical event (VCE) was collected. This information was coded, and data entered into a database for organization. Frequency and prevalence information were determined for each category of VCE.^ Results. The top four VCEs experienced by MWDs while deployed in Iraq were gastrohepatic, dermatologic, traumatic injury, and appendicular musculoskeletal issues.^ Conclusions. Training, equipment, and supplies for veterinary personnel who care for the deployed MWDs should be tailored accordingly to suit the identified medical needs of the MWDs. ^

Applications of informatics in veterinary medicine

This study used the peer-reviewed biomedical literature to define the veterinary informatics knowledgebase and associated subspecialties, and assesses the level of activity in the field over the thirty-year period from 1966 through 1995. Grateful Med was used to search the MEDLINE bibliographic database for articles that shared one or more Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) keywords from the veterinary and medical informatics subject headings. Each of ninety-five MeSH medical informatics terms was assigned to one of twelve veterinary informatics subspecialties. The number of articles retrieved by each MeSH keyword and subspecialty was calculated. A total of 611 articles were retrieved, representing the contributions of 1,338 authors published in 153 journals. The field experienced slow growth over the twenty-year period from 1966 through 1985. In the following decade, the cumulative number of veterinary informatics articles almost tripled and the percentage of veterinary-related articles that included an informatics component increased almost two-and-one-half fold. Despite this recent growth, the number of veterinary-related articles with an informatics component has never exceeded 1% of either the veterinary or medical informatics literature over the past thirty years, and representation of veterinary subspecialties in the literature varied widely.