zoonotic research

The Human Animal Medicine Project has moved to the University of Washington

I just finished reading my copy of the new book Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach us about Health and the Science of Healing, by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers. It is a ground-breaking book and essential reading for anyone interested in the connections between human and animal medicine.

It is not uncommon for patients to ask me whether an illness in a pet could be related to symptoms they are experiencing. For example, a patient suffering from allergies caused by mold in her house told me about her dog that was being treated by a veterinary allergist. Was it possible that human and dog were dealing with the same problem?

A recent article in the New York Times is a reminder of the potential for new approaches to comparative medicine outside of the typical research laboratory.

Over the past decade, human medicine has become more "evidence based." Under this paradigm, recommended clinical policies regarding prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases should be based on explicit evidence of the value of a particular approach.