UC Davis experts: Animal behavior and health

UC Davis faculty members from a variety of disciplines are available to discuss issues related to animals. If you need information on a topic not listed, please contact Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu.

Infectious diseases transmitted between animals and people

Bruno B. Chomel, professor of zoonoses at the School of Veterinary Medicine, can discuss
bacterial, viral or parasitic infections transmitted between animals and people. His research focuses on Bartonella, the bacteria that causes cat scratch disease, a common infection that may become serious in patients with compromised immune systems. Bartonella chomelii was named to recognize Chomel's discoveries in the field. Chomel has also conducted studies of plague, hantavirus, rabies and other zoonoses present in California. He is director of the WHO Collaborating Center for New and Emerging Zoonoses. Contact: Bruno B. Chomel, Veterinary Medicine, (530) 752-8112, bbchomel@ucdavis.edu.

Infectious diseases of small animals

The animal health research of Niels C. Pedersen focuses on infectious and immunologic diseases of dogs and cats. Specific areas of research include: infectious diseases of cats, vaccinations, antiviral drug therapy, canine and feline rheumatology, and small animal immunologic diseases/genetics of immunologic diseases. His discoveries about feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) have contributed to the development of animal models of human AIDS. Pedersen discovered several other infections of cats, including feline enteric corona virus (FECV), bacterial L-form abscesses, infectious myocarditis and several strains of feline calicivirus (FCV). He has also conducted noteworthy research in the pathology of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). Contact: Niels C. Pedersen, School of Veterinary Medicine Department of Medicine and Epidemiology; director, Center for Companion Animal Health, (530) 752-7402, ncpedersen@ucdavis.edu. (Dr. Pedersen does not use voice mail or a pager; the general lab number is 752-2211.)

Media contacts:

• Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu

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