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Kevin Keel

@ucpath.bsky.social
526 followers 314 following 228 posts

Veterinary pathologist, conservation advocate, wildlife-disease scientist, outdoorsman. And I love parasites, but especially the metazoans! Scientific, one-health and naturalist content.

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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Have you ever seen a more perfect section of a rumen fluke (Paramphistomum liorchis)? Usually they fall off during fixation but this one is still sucking down on that rumen papilla. Only the oral sucker is visible in sxn… OK, so it’s not "perfect"! But pretty close. Domestic cow, rumen, HE stain.
This image is of a transverse section of a trematode (Paramphistomum liorchis) attached to the lining of the rumen. The rumen surface forms small finger-like projections called papillae. The oral sucker, but not the ventral sucker of this fluke is visible in section and the oral sucker is sucking on the rumen papilla.
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Reposted by Kevin Keel
Eric Topol @erictopol.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
A Super Ager, Fauja Singh, ran his 1st marathon at age 89, and 8 more after that through age 101. How does he die at age 114 years? Hit by a car. apnews.com/article/olde...
Fauja Singh, world's oldest matrathon runner
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Beautiful representation of feather follicles from a chickadee. A happy accident from the histology lab. They are not supposed to be sectioned obliquely but it makes them look pretty interesting in an abstract sort of way. 🪶
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
Submit your case for the Wildlife Pathology Workshop at #WDA2025 📅 Deadline for slide submission: June 9 🔬 Focus: Gross & histopathology of wildlife cases 📍 Held during the WDA Annual Meeting #VeterinaryPathology #WildlifeHealth #OneHealth wda2025.com/event/wda-an...
wda2025.com
WDA and Davis-Thompson Foundation, Annual Wildlife Pathology Workshop - Wildlife Disease Association 2025
The event begins with a keynote lecture by Dr. Karen Fox, entitled “Applications of next-generation sequencing for wildlife disease diagnoses.” The rest of the day will be a histopathology workshop. P...
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
With 1,000 dairy herds affected by avian influenza and the disease regularly changing, the absence of this program is going to hurt. www.reuters.com/business/hea...
reuters.com
FDA suspends program to improve bird flu testing due to staff cuts
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is suspending efforts to improve its bird flu testing of milk, cheese and pet food due to massive staff cuts at the agency, according to an email seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the situation.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 01/04/2025
California is no stranger to domoic acid, but this year it's much worse much earlier. Stranded pinnipeds often exhibit listlessness, head bobbing, disorientation and seizures. Mortality rates are estimated to be ~25% www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-stor... #VetMed #MarineMammal #VetPath
A sea lion with domoic acid poisoning experiencing involuntary muscle spasms. This is a female sea lion lying on her side on a beach.  Her muzzle and left flipper pointing skyward.  She has domoic acid poisoning and was experiencing involuntary muscle spasms. 

Credit: Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Well, shit. This is going to cost us a lot more than the money saved. For the price of 38 Abrams tanks, #FAO has gotten a hell of a lot done with support from the U.S. kbhbradio.com/funding-term... #VetMed #AnimalHealth #OneHealth
kbhbradio.com
Funding terminated for preparedness, response to animal disease outbreaks
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S government had terminated funding for programs at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, (FAO) a spokesperson said. “FAO has received termination notices for ...
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
This seems a bit obvious, but it's a very cool illustration of the idea. I tried to figure out where it was first published, but all I found were many social media posts with the image. Guilty!
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Reposted by Kevin Keel
Jay 🦋 @jay.bsky.team · 31/03/2025
The future is a web of branching paths, and each choice opens up new possibilities as it closes others. This is as true for a civilization as it is for an individual. The more our collective intelligence can inform each choice, the better our chances of finding paths through to a beautiful future.
graphic of branching lifelines, with the path taken traced through it. past paths no longer in play are greyed out, possible future paths spread out like a network of roots in front
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
Not a new article, but it's worth posting again just in case you missed it. Bullfrogs are normally tadpoles for 2 or 3 years. Something disrupted this one's metamorphosis so it just kept on growing! I love the references for scale! #frogs #wildlife www.americanscientist.org/blog/from-th...
Photos of a giant bullfrog tadpole.  the panel on the left compares it so a similarly sized banana, and a tape measure showing that it is nearly 11 inches long.  The right panel compares it to a beer can.  It is not the first time I have seen someone use a beer can or a beer bottle as a size reference.  I guess you use what you've got.  And they are a constant size.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
If only we had a vaccine for ignorance. But, wait! We do!! Or, at least we did. Unfortunately, critical thinking and education, it would seem, are passé. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...
nbcnews.com
How the anti-vaccine movement weaponized a 6-year-old's measles death
Anti-vaccine influencers see the child’s death as proof — not of the danger of measles, but of their own debunked theories.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
An exhibitionist egret on display. These courtship threads beat millinery any day. Populations of common #egrets (and other spp.) were once decimated so we could put their nuptial plumes in women’s hats. Goshen Swamp, Liberty Co, Georgia. #birds #wildlife #NaturePhotography #Photography
This is a profile of a common egret in full display, sitting in they top of a cypress tree.  The nuptial plumes are Lacey feathers protruding from the body.  The bird also has a green cere, that is a result of its breeding status.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
These are some crazy kidneys! You don't have to be a pathologist to think these lesions are beautiful! I have suspicions as to pathogenesis, but histo will tell. 9-yo dog. Clinicians susp granulomatous osteomyelitis of lumbar v but no gross lesions were evident. #pathsky #vetpath #RenalPath
This is the cut surface of a kidney that has been sectioned longitudinally. Six poorly demarcated, dark-red, wedge-shaped foci extend from the corticomedullary margin to the pelvis and are 4 to 7 mm wide at the corticomedullary junction. One, which corresponds to a cranial cortical depression, is itself slightly depressed on cut surface (infarct).The cortex of the left kidney has five, focal to focally extensive discolored foci that are restricted to the superficial one-half of the cortex. The smallest of these are rectangular, dark red foci in which each edge of the rectangular focus is approximately 5 mm. The largest of the superficial cortical foci consists of a 6 cm long band in the outer one-half of the cortex. All of the larger foci have a pink core with a ground glass surface (necrosis) surrounded by a 1-mm-thick yellow margin that is in turn surrounded by a 1-mm-thick, red outer margin of tissue. Close inspection reveals congested glomeruli in the less affected cortex, but these are not visible in the necrotic regions.A macroscopic image of the canine kidney previously described. Less affected regions are uncharacteristically yellow. There are scattered aminar, supericial-cortical lesions. The smallest are dark red.  The largest have a pink core with a ground glass surface (necrosis) surrounded by a 1-mm-thick yellow margin that is in turn surrounded by a 1-mm-thick, red outer margin of tissue.  If you look closely you can see pin-point red structures scattered throughout the cortex that correspond to glomeruli.
The image depicts the right kidney from this case that has been sectioned longitudinally through the hilum.  The section on the left shows the cut surfaces.  The one on the right shows the capsular surface with the capsule removed.  The capsular surface is speckled red and yellow with hundreds of widely scattered, pinpoint, red foci that are only visible with very close inspection (suspect congested or hemorrhagic glomeruli). The larger red foci account for half of the surface of the right kidney and they extend into the outer one-half of the cortex on cut surfaces. The kidney is otherwise pale.This is a macroscopic photo of the right kidney.  On cut surface the red foci are mostly limited to the superficial one-half of the cortex.  Pinpoint red dots are clearly visible here, and they likely correspond to discolored glomeruli. The remainder of the cortex is yellow and it should be reddish brown.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
It's that time of year again! The #egrets are getting frisky. My parents are lucky enough to have a rookery in their backyard. Common egret, Liberty Co, #Georgia #birds #nature #wildlife #NaturePhotography #Nikon #swamp
A common egret displays its plumes in the top of a cypress tree.  The bird is holding its neck in a semicurl and the plumes are spread behind it like a snow white peacock.  The photograph resulted in the whites being a little blown out in the birds back. Hard to get everything balanced with these white birds in a dark swamp.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Here's a case you don’t see every day! A hepatic sarcoma in a rat caused by tapeworm larvae. Taenia taeniaformis infestation with chronic inflammation and spindle-cell proliferation paves the way for neoplastic transformation. Nature is weird sometimes! #skypath #vetpath #parasites
This is a subgross image of liver with a large tumor containing a blood filled cavity that has multiple sections of tapeworm larvae. A bit of the hepatic parenchyma is on the upper right.  H&E-stained section.  Here are cross sections of the degenerate tapeworm larvae from the previous image.  They lack detail but the calcareous corpuscles are still visible.  These appear to be strobilocerci.  As I understand it, this tapeworm initially forms cysticerci in the rat which then metamorphose into strobilocerci.  H&E-stained section.  This image demonstrates the fibrosarcoma on the right and the interface with the extant hepatic parenchyma on the left.  The neoplasm is well demarcated in this section. In others it was more directly invasive and widespread metastases were all through the abdomen.  This seemed to be a case of true sarcomatosis.  Implantation of bits of neoplasia directly on the serosal surfaces of the abdomen, leading to additional tumors.A high magnification image of this neoplasm.  Neoplastic cells have significant variability in size.  They are generally oval to round.  Mitotic figures and apoptotic cells are occasionally seen.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
I should have mentioned that RFK is the other well known cat who had a tapeworm larvae in his brain. This cat will survive. Luckily, he's not likely to seek a career in politics. That was a pretty big hole in his brain! #VetPath #Histopathology #Parasites bsky.app/profile/ucpa...
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
Coolest biopsy of the week! A coenurus from the brain of a cat. This tapeworm larvae has multiple invaginated scolices. The cat was doing well when discharged 7 days post op. #VetPath #PathSky #Parasites #Histopathology
MRI of a cat brain.  There is a cystic mass in the right temporal lobe that extended to the frontal lobe.Subgross section of the biopsy sample from this cat.   Multiple scolices are attached to the inside of the cyst visible on MRI.  This is consistent with a coenurus. Taenia sp., including Taenia multiceps, Taenia serialis, Taenia brauni, and Taenia glomeratus are capable of producing coenuri.  A hydatid cyst could have a similar appearance but a coenurus is more likely given the signalment and location of the patient. PCR and sequence results are pending.Histopathology slide demonstrating four scolices with hooks and suckers that are variably visible in this section.  The presence of multiple scolices in a cysticercoid tapeworm larvae indicates a coenurus or a hydatid cyst.  This was most likely a coenurus due to a Taenia sp.A detail of the scolex from the coenurus of the cat presented.  Hooks are evident in the middle of the field with suckers to either side of it.  It will have four suckers in total, but the others are out of the plane of section.  Calcareous corpuscles are visible in the stroma.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
The great-tailed grackle. My most favorite of all the grackles. Look at that tail! Look at that beak! He is seems pretty proud of the whole package. Woodland, CA. I wonder how long before they try to change the name to Quiscalus americanus. #birds #wildlifephotography #naturephotography
A long, sleek blackbird, a great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) sits perched on a limb looking over his back.  The dark irridescent plumage indicates that this is a male.  He has a piercing yellow eye, a very long beak and a large tail that is slightly longer than his body.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
Looking for opinions on this (alleged) ovarian mass from a garter snake. I presume the amphophilic material is redundant basement membrane. Could this be a granulosa cell tumor? We have seen those in snakes (incl garter snakes) but this one is odd. #pathsky #vetpath #veterinary #tumor #repro
Two sections ostensibly of ovary are present on this microscope slide. The subgross reveals the slightly basophilic masses with tortuous blood vessels adjacent to them.A high magnification view of an ovarian neoplasm from a giant garter snake. The tumor is composed of cords and islands of epithelial cells surrounded by a wide margin of amphophilic material interpreted to be basement membrane material.Alternate high magnification view of an ovarian neoplasm from a giant garter snake. The tumor is composed of cords and islands of epithelial cells surrounded by a wide margin of amphophilic material interpreted to be basement membrane material.Another high magnification view of the ovarian neoplasm from a giant garter snake. The tumor is composed of cords and islands of epithelial cells surrounded by a wide margin of amphophilic material interpreted to be basement membrane material.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
What's your diagnosis? American crow with a lesion on the back of the shank. I've seen this bird every day for a week and a half. #VetPath #AvianDisease #Veterinary #DermPath
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Normally we go to Lake Solano (Yolo Co, California) to see the migrator waterfowl, especially the buffleheads and goldeneye. This day the #RiverOtters were putting on more of a show. #mammals #WildlifePhotography #Nikon #wildlife
This photo shows a river otter lying on a log on the bank of a river.  The otter is very wet and is staring into the camera.  There seems to be a scar on his lip, I presume from fighting.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
A new kind of box #fish? Nope! It's much more interesting. This fishy cell has been stained with an antibody specific for rabies. They don't call it neurotropic for nothing! Antigen fills the cytoplasm but spares the nucleus creating a stark contrast betw the two.🧪 #histopath #PathSky #VetPath
This slide is a highly magnified sample of brainstem from a rabid bobcat.  Ihas a single neuron with branched axon at one end and a large nucleus with a prominent nucleolus at the other end. The cytoplasm has been stained brown by an immunohistochemistry stain specific for the rabies virus.  Another process extends from a point adjacent to the bifurcated axon.  The unstained nucleolus and the processes give the distinct appearance of a fish.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
It's a couple of years old but this is a great review of #rabies #virus #pathogenesis and #immune evasion. A student's question on antibody response prompted me to dig a little deeper in the literature. Who doesn't appreciate a good review article? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Neuroimmunology of rabies: New insights into an ancient disease
Rabies is an ancient neuroinvasive viral (genus Lyssavirus, family Rhabdoviridae) disease affecting approximately 59,000 people worldwide. The central nervous system (CNS) is targeted, and rabies has...
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Reposted by Kevin Keel
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) @avmajavma.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
It's "What Is Your Diagnosis?" Wednesday! What are your differential diagnoses for a flock of 20,000 Bovans Brown laying hens that experienced a 2-week period of increasing mortality starting at 54 weeks of age? Full case: doi.org/10.2460/javm...
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
A beautiful cleared example of Fascioloides magna that was submitted to the vet school. The large liver fluke leads to condemnation of beef livers and can cause significant disease in sheep and goats. I see it in white-tailed #deer, who don't seem affected. #veterinary #parasitology #trematode
This is a photo of a fluke, a parasitic flatworm.   This is Fascioloides magna, the large liver fluke.  It has been cleared giving it an overall golden brown appearance with a clearly delineated GI tract.  The oral sucker is visible at the apex of the anterior end. the ventral sucker is visible just behind it.  The worm was provided by Dr. Lauren Camp.  The photos are mine.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Here is an awesome case from our #histopathology conference this morning! Lung from a #macaque. What's your dx? The residents hate it when I say, "It's a classic". But it is! 😊 #VetPath #PathSky #lung #parasites
Dome shaped histopathology section of lung with three dark nodules scattered in the parenchyma. The nodules are dark purple (basophilic) and have open spaces visible at low power.This is a medium-magnification of the lung previously described. The center consists of a nodular region in whch the parenchymais thickened by inflammtory infiltrates. The clef visible in the middle of the focus is presumably an airway.  Two small structures in the middle of the airway are ovoid to round and are mottled pink to red.This is a higher magnification of the structures in the airway that was previously described. The tissue to the left and right of the open space (airway) is heavily infiltrated by inflammatory cells.The structures in the middle have a bosselated surface and contain structures that stain brightly eosinophilic (red) to basophilic (purple).   The thin shell around the outside is refractile and brown.This slide contains sections of a jointed appendage from the intrabronchial structures previously described.  A nonstaining, brown refractile cuticle of varying thickness is on the surface.  Linear eosinophilic structures with attachment points at the ends are present inside the appendage. These have striations and represent skeletal muscle.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
FFS! Do NOT start calling this "Zombie Deer Disease"!! It is chronic-wasting disease (CWD). It's bad enough without giving screwball false impressions to the public. #deer #CWD #Veterinary #prion #SciComm www.11alive.com/article/life...
11alive.com
Georgia reports first case of 'zombie deer disease' | What to know
The fatal neurological disease was detected in a 2.5-year-old white-tailed deer in Lanier County.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Last night friends asked me about the genetic test for intervertebral disk #disease (IVDD) in #dogs. I'm proud to say this comes from my department. Fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) retrogene insertion on chromosome 12 (CFA12) #Science #VetPath #neurology journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
This is a sagital section through two vertebrae and the associated intervertebral disk from a young dog.  the intervertebral disk is slightly pear shaped and it's long axis is perpendicular to the vertebral column.  There are some clefts that are features of chondrodystrophy.  The intervertebral disk is bracketed by physes on either side.  These are visible as vertical columns of purple cartilage.   The photo is my own.  I started to include a plate from the article, but I figured I would just get a nasty letter from Sage for copyright infringement!
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
I had originally shared a link to this article with my infectious disease class last year. Viruses are cool in all kinds of ways. David Goodsell makes them works of art. 🧪 www.science.org/content/arti... #science #InfectiousDisease #Viruses #ScienceArt
science.org
Meet the scientist painter who turns deadly viruses into beautiful works of art
David Goodsell’s scientifically precise watercolor paintings of the cells and microbes he studies grace journal covers and impress colleagues
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
One of my favorite #birds. Like many #neotropical migrants, numbers of prothonatary #warblers are declining due to #HabitatLoss. The #cypress swamp where I took this photo was clear cut last year. It's just a big muddy hole now. #nature #wildlife. #WildlifePhotography
This image is of a deep golden-yellow prothonatary warbler sitting on the branches of bald cypress.  The bird has grey wings and a dark eye.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
I must have been born with some lesion in that part of my brain. Anyone who has heard me singing at karaoke night would agree. 🙃 bsky.app/profile/scif...
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 18/01/2025
When I was a resident we received a #parrot w/ #Chlamydia. The owner told us the ref vet said the bird prob got it from sexual contact with a person! 😂 Sounds dangerous! I hope our students now learn the difference between C psittaci and C trachomatis! 😬 #InfectiousDisease #Veterinary #bacteria
This is a golden conure sitting on a branch. The bird has raised its left foot to its mouth and is nibbling on it.  The plumage is a rich yellow color with edge of green feathers just visible on the wings.   This is a photo I took at ZooParque in Itatiba, Sao Paulo State, Brazil.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
Come to Davis for the West Coast #Veterinary #Pathology Conference, May 2-3! We've got great speakers lined up, and we will have some fantastic cases for you to learn from. I promise it will be worth the trip. davisthompsonfoundation.org/event/great-... #VetPath #ReproPath #Theriogenology
This is the image of a poster advertising the 42nd Annual West Coast Veterinary Pathology Conference, May 2nd to 3rd, 2025.  The title is Great Gonads and Tubular Tales of Reproductive Pathology.  Photos of our speakers, Dalen Agnew, Al Conley and Justin Vidal, are included on the poster.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
We identified spatiotemporal clusters of #Chlamydia buteonis infection in raptors in Northern California. Cases were concentrated in winter near Sacramento. Uncertain why the spatial clustering occurs. #hawks #epidemiology #InfectiousDisease #Veterinary avmajournals.avma.org/view/journal...
This is an image of the underside of a red-tailed hawk soaring in a clear blue sky. The hawk is looking downward and wings are outspread.  Photo by Kevin Keel
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
I see many cases of #Chlamydia buteonis in #hawks @ UC Davis. I NEVER diagnosed it in 10 years of cases from the southeastern US. I'm sure I wasn't just missing cases in the SE. The hepatosplenomegaly and dark liver are profound. Airsaculitis is variable. #VetPath #Veterinary #InfectiousDisease
This slide shows the abdominal viscera from a hawk.  The liver is situated at the top of the image.  It is very large and very dark.  The spleen is red and is very enlarged as well.  The airsacs are thickened but no discrete plaques are visible.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Chaperones help correct misfolding of #proteins and facilitate degradation of irreparable proteins. However, their interaction with #prions has some interesting results that may initially seem counterintuitive. Nice paper on the subject. 🧪 #TSE #CWD www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Chaperone-mediated disaggregation of infectious prions releases particles that seed new prion formation in a strain-specific manner
The mammalian prion protein can form infectious, nonnative, and protease resistant aggregates (PrPD), which cause lethal prion diseases like human Cre…
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Check out the massive numbers of #microsporidia in these sections! How many times have you had to search for #Encephalitozoon cuniculi? This is E. pogonae in #kidney of a bearded dragon. The lizards know how to grow Encephalitozoon. #PathSky #VetPath #Veterinary #Parasitology #Histopathology
This is a hematoxylin and eosin stained section of kidney from a bearded dragon.  Encephalitozoan pogonae, a microsporidian, expands they cytoplasm of many cells.  Nuclei of cells are dark purple and the parenchyma is mostly pink (eosinophilic).  The microsporidians are elongate.  They have a polar tube and posterior vacuole that create some differential staining of the organism.This is an acid-fast stained section of kidney from a bearded dragon.  Encephalitozoan pogonae, a microsporidian, expands they cytoplasm of many cells and these organisms are stained a bright fuchsia color.  The counterstain turns the background tissue light blue.This is a gram stained section of kidney from a bearded dragon.  Encephalitozoan pogonae, a microsporidian, expands they cytoplasm of many cells.  Nuclei of cells are verydark purple.  The cells and fibrous connective tissue in the backgrounds are pink .  The microsporidians are elongate.  Although many are aggregated in host cells, some are scattered in the tissue.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
My wife asked me to post this. She is a Deputy Director at California Office of Emergency Services (CALOES). Please share if you are connected to any folks in the LA area. Includes links to resources for those impacted by CA fires. #LosAngeles #Fire #CALOES www.ca.gov/lafires/
ca.gov
2025 Los Angeles Fires | CA.gov
Resources for Californians Impacted by 2025 Early January Los Angeles County Fires.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
A dark morph red-tailed hawk for any (other) birding pathologists out there. A small lesion is on the left aspect of the cere. Apparent case of avian pox. Often self-limiting, but it can severely damage the rhamphotheca of raptors. Cedarville, CA #vetpath #birds #wildlife #InfectiousDisease
A red-tailed hawk in flight and facing the left side of the frame. This is a very darkly pigmented variant of the red-tailed hawk, but it still has a red tail.  The wings are outstretched but flex slightly downward. A small nodule is at the base of the beak on the left side.  This is likely a proliferative lesion caused by an avian poxvirus.A closely cropped image of a dark-morph red-tailed hawk in flight.  The left-lateral aspect of the cere, at the base of the beak, has a small gray nodule.  This is likely proliferation due to infection with avian poxvirus.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
I saw a tundra swan yesterday with extreme cervical kyphosis. I don't know what might have caused it, but the bird was flying well. But it had a strange profile.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
I took this photo of a sidewinder ages ago when I was doing my PhD in Tucson.  It was a good time to put my telephoto lens to use.  They are the fastest #rattlesnake. Most bites in AZ are due to the more common western diamondbacks. #wildlife #wildifephotography #nature #snakes #herps
A sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) coiled up and facing the camera.  The raised super-ocular scales look like horns and impart a menacing appearance.  The image has a shallow focal plane such that only the eye and adjacent parts of the head are in focus.  The rattles, although blurry, are visible in the lower right part of the image.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
AL amyloid in nasal mucosa of a horse. There was some disagreement in rounds over the papillomatous proliferation of the mucosa. I assumed it was just induced by edema and the pressure of the amyloid. Others thought it was strange with no ready explanation. #vetpath #PathSky #veterinary
This is a subgross image of a section of nasal mucosa from a horse that forms a papillary mass.  The mucosa is expanded by amyloid, but that is not readily apparent at this magnification.  A small amount of hemorrhage is scattered on the surface.A higher magnification of the papillary proliferation of equine nasal mucosa with submucosal amyloid. The surface is highly folded due to the irregular proliferation of mucosa.  The submucosa is expanded and some large islands of amorphous, eosinophilic amloid are evident at this magnification.A high magnification image of an H&E stained section of equine nasal mucosa.  The submucosa is expanded by fragmented islands of amorphous, pink (eosinophilic) amyloid.  Negatively stained spaces between the amyloid plaques may represent edema, or artifactual shrinkage of tissues in processing.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
All the other #ducks had beak envy. The lamellae along the edge of this northern shoveler's large bill are adaptations that help it filter food items from the water. Yolo County, California, USA #birds #waterfowl #wildlife #nature #WildlifePhotography
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
What's your dx? Laryngeal mass in a dog. We don't see too many of these in veterinary medicine. I'm curious if the MD's think it's a slam dunk without IHC. #PathSky #VetPath #Veterinary #RespiratoryPathology #Pathology
This is a photo of a hematoxylin and eosin-stained microscope slide with three irregularly shaped sections of tissue. All three include sheets of darkly staining cells.  The two sections to the left are covered by a thin layer of epithelium and the subepithelial connective tissue is rarefied, consistent with edema.  This is a higher magnification of the slide previously described.  Longitudinal sections of a few muscle fibers are on the left side of the tissue.  Sheets of cells with dark, basophilic (purple) nuclei are present on the right side and constitute the bulk of the sample.  A small number of these cells extend between myofibers. A bit of hemorrhage is scattered within the mass. This is a high magnification image of the mass previously described.  Most of the cells have abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and round to oval nuclei with lightly stippled chromatin and 1 to 2 small nucleoli.  A contiguous region that is about 1/3 of the right side of the image is composed of cells with similary nuclei, but smaller amounts of more basophilic cytoplasm.  Mostly cell borders are indistinct but rare cells are set off by clear space and they are round. Rare cells have cytoplasmic inclusions in the nuclei.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Here is a cool #histopathology slide to take your mind off the worries of the world! Eurytrema procyonis (a fluke for those wondering) in the pancreatic duct of a #raccoon. This #trematode is pretty well host adapted and is usually an incidental finding. #VetPath #PathSky #Parasite
The slide depicts a section of pancreas with a central pancreatic duct that is filled by multiple sections of small flatworms. It is hard to see much detail in the worms at this magnification, but the fibrous connective tissue around the pancreatic duct might be a bit thick.Two sections of flukes (trematodes). The bottom fluke is in a transverse section.  It contains multiple pigmented oval eggs and the paired ceca (stars), part of it's digestive tract are visible on either side.  The fluke at the top of  the image is sectioned more obliquely, but the eggs and the paired sections of the digestive tract are still visible.  The section of this fluke also shows a testis (arrow).  Flukes are hermaphroditic.Several longitudinal sections of flukes are on this slide.  At least one sucker is visible in all of them.  A fluke to the lef side of the image is sectioned down the middle so that the profile looks like the head of a person.  The sucker is cut in such a way that it looks like a giant mouth opened wide.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
Every year during the wildfires in our area, I look at the ash on the hood of my car and wonder whose house that once was. Did it belong to a friend of mine? Are they hurt?
This is a photo of a wildfire with a house mostly consumed by fire.  The whole image is tinted orange from the flames.  The house is still burning, but only the studs remain.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
Everybody seems to have a weekday theme, so I'm calling this wormy Wednesday! This is a very nicely cleared Fascioloides magna from a cow. I think the branching structures are the intestinal tract. Even flukes can be beautiful! #parasite #parasitology #veterinary #trematode
This is a large liver fluke (Fascioloides magna) that has been made translucent (cleared) so that internal organs are visible.  The worm is lanceolate or leaf shaped with a narrower end at the top (the head).  A small cup shaped structure (oral sucker) is present on the tip of the head.   A round structure (the ventral sucker) is a short distance back from the oral sucker.  Overall the worm is dark yellow.  Along each side of the body a long dark tube extends toward the caudal end of the worm and many branches extend from this towards the sides of the worm.  Dr. Lauren Camp provided the worm.  I took the photo.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 08/01/2025
This #Canada goose sticks a perfect landing. My photography tribute to our cousins up North. I am sorry our family is so dysfunctional! Woodland, California, May 2024 #birds #wildlife #Wildlife #waterfowl
A Canada goose is landing on water, with feet outstretched, it's wings cupped and water spraying away from the bird as it just touches down.  This mature bird has a dark, almost black neck and a sharp white chin strap.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
I am excited to begin my #OneHealth class for the undergraduates today. I'm working hard to inspire some of these kids to tackle these problems when they graduate. It's the least I can do, since my generation (and previous gen's) left such a mess for them. #Veterinary #WildlifeHealth #teaching
This is a title slide for a presentation.  The background is a flock of widgeon, a type of duck, sitting on the water with one taking off in flight.  The male widgeon have a white strip down the center of their head and irridescent green plumage on the sides of the head.  Because of the white on the crown of their head, they used to be called bald pate.  The title of the slide is "Avian Influenza:  Why and how it is the perfect one-health problem.
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Kevin Keel @ucpath.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
#MarineMammal harassment is an ever increasing problem. I photographed this jack ass at Children's Pool Beach. The #SeaLion was too boring for him while she was asleep, so he started poking her with the selfie stick. Apparently he's never seen a bite wound from a sea lion! #wildlife #nature
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