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Advances in Animal, Human and Ecosystem Health

LVT holding a terrier

We have used our experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic to redefine client service and enhance our use of telemedicine tools. From the creation of a new operations team, to hiring clinicians and technicians in key areas, to renovating areas of the hospital and becoming a model for ezyVet use in academia, we are committed to the health of individual animals, herds and our own community, as well as to building international programs and partnerships.

Read our 2018-2022 Strategic Plan for more.

CUHA Cases at a Glance

30,083
cases at CUHA
2,400
ambulatory cases in the Ithaca region
1,695
cases at the Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital*
674
Cornell Ruffian Equine Specialists

*Wildlife cases are also included in the CUHA total above



Cornell University Hospital for Animals

Caseload by species

Species Caseload
Canine 20,056
Feline 4,761
Equine 1,429
Avian & wildlife 1,319
Bovine 143
All other large animal 1,659
All other small animal 3,072
Total (all small and large animal) 30,083

pie chart depicting the species breakdown of CUHA cases in 2021

horse and veterinarian
Members of Cornell's Equine Nemo Farm Animal Hospital examine a patient. Photo: Carol Jennings/CVM

Caseload by month 

CUHA FY21 cases by month depicted in a bar chart


Caseload by month data table

Month CUHA Caseload
July 2,479
August 2,473
September 2,545
October 2,597
November 2,408
December 2,074
January 2,222
February 2,038
March 2,684
April 2,671
May 2,858
June 3,070


Janet L. Swanson Wildlife Hospital

Bar chart depicting five years of caseload by species at the wildlife hospital

Hands holding a baby beaver
A baby beaver is tended to at the Janet L. Swanson Animal Hospital. Photo: Carol Jennings/CVM

Caseload by species data table 

Year Total caseload Avian Mammal Reptile/amphibian
2017 1,125 669 392 64
2018 1,338 847 436 55
2019 1,416 852 485 79
2020 1,744 1,109 554 81
2021* 1,643 1,056 565 22

*Year to date


Cornell University Veterinary Specialists

Stamford, Connecticut

  • 22% caseload increase vs. fiscal year 2020
  • 125 staff
  • 16 specialists 
  • 6 Residents
CUVS clinician looking at a patient's chart
A clinician at the Cornell University Veterinary Specialists  (CUVS)clinic in Stamford, Connecticut, examines a patient's chart. Photo: CUVS



Newly-Launched Department of Public and Ecosystem Health

26
Faculty members
>50
Extramural, multidisciplinary grants and contracts
3
Central challenges

a graphic showing the intersection of human, environment, plants & animal health

The Department of Public and Ecosystem Health represents a bold new approach in academia. Rather than organize around a common discipline or approach, Public and Ecosystem Health brings public health professionals, biophysical and social scientists, and veterinarians together to address three of the world’s greatest challenges: achieving healthy food systems, tackling emerging health threats, and conserving biodiversity. We seek not only to understand these wicked problems through research, but also to address them directly through public health and clinical veterinary practice. Quite simply, our students, staff, and faculty seek to change the world.


Cornell Wildlife Health Center

A white rhinoceros in southern Africa. Photo: Joel Jerzog/Unsplash

The Cornell Wildlife Health Center (CWHC) continues to enhance synergy among many of Cornell’s wildlife-focused programs, expand student learning opportunities, and capitalize on earnest interdisciplinary approaches to addressing key wildlife conservation and related public health challenges. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our One Health experts have emphasized the fact that our own health and well-being are intimately tied to how we treat the natural world - that we need to secure a healthy future for wildlife and wild places in order to secure a healthy future for humanity.

By the Numbers

2,909
Attendees at the virtual "Preventing Pandemics" symposium
31
Media articles quoting CWHC faculty on conservation and public health issues
124
Countries represented by CWHC website visitors
15
Countries where CWHC members work

Outreach Efforts

  • Providing thought leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic’s likely origins, and the importance of using a One Health lens to decrease the chances of future pandemics
  • Co-hosting a virtual symposium with World Wildlife Fund and Cornell Atkinson (CA), "Emerging Disease, Wildlife Trade and Consumption: The Need for Robust Global Governance." 
  • Assisting Congressional offices with drafting a bipartisan bill, the Preventing Future Pandemics Act
  • Publishing key science-based recommendations for protecting endangered species, including tigers, African rhinos, African elephants, and black-footed ferrets
  • Mentoring veterinary and graduate students pursuing careers in wildlife conservation and One Health

National Projects

  • Diagnosing causes of freshwater fish disease outbreaks
  • Promoting non-lead ammunition to reduce the toxicity threat to people and ecosystems, including in bald eagles
  • Mitigating risks of chronic wasting disease on deer, elk and moose
  • Protecting Hawai‘i’s wild birds from avian malaria
  • Evaluating how climate change may be increasing disease threats to Arctic specialists like gyrfalcons

International Projects

  • Studying the threat of canine distemper virus to endangered tigers in key habitats
  • Addressing land-use challenges at the livestock / wildlife interface in southern Africa
  • Improving community livelihoods and livestock practices to underpin snow leopard conservation in Central Asia
  • Exploring community-based interventions to reduce human-leopard conflict in Nepal
  • Mitigating infectious disease threats to Indonesia’s critically endangered Javan rhino
  • Investigating mysterious rhino deaths in Nepal

Learn more about our ongoing projects by visiting our website.


Animal Health Diagnostic Center (AHDC) & New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory

lab member examines a sample

Diagnostic services and expert advice for veterinary professionals and animal and public health stakeholders

Cornell Covid Testing Laboratory
Members of the Cornell COVID-19 Testing Laboratory (CCTL) process samples. Photo: Cornell University

close up of a hand holding a microchip
A high-throughput assay for tick-borne diseases at the AHDC. Photo: Rachel Philipson/CVM

COVID Leadership

  • AHDC scientists closely collaborated with Cayuga Medicine Medical Center to validate a high-throughput real-time PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2. 
  • Established the Cornell COVID Testing Lab (CCTL), the cornerstone of the Cornell COVID-19 response and prevention program. It relies on high-tech robotics and computing to pool samples, automate many of the processes, and report results one day after sampling.  
  • The CCTL began formally processing tests on August 17, 2020 and since then have tested over 1.5M individual samples.

Accessions*, Percentage by Species Group

Accession Type Percentage
Equine 48%
Companion Animals 32%
Food & Fiber 15%
Other Species 5%

*Accession refer to an ordered test or group of tests from a client, and can include one or multiple samples.

Bar graph showing total monthly accessions from 2018-2021

  • 16% increase FY 2018 to FY 2021
  • March through May 2020 COVID-19-related depression in accession numbers, reversed by June 2020

Total Accessions, by Month

Month FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
Jul 17,287 18,759 20,131

21,347

Aug 19,715 19,624 19,274

18,065

Sep 17,404 17,864 18,383

20,473

Oct 19,671 20,885 21,203

22,459

Nov 16,021 16,570 16,517

17,498

Dec 14,057 13,549 14,310

18,677

Jan 15,437 15,983 17,993

18,763

Feb 15,557 14,704 16,133

16,601

Mar 19,759 19,986 18,530

26,558

Apr

22,044 24,863 17,870

29,274

May 24,555 23,832 20,566

25,961

Jun 20,829 20,401 23,016 26,182
Grand Total 222,336 227,020 223,926 261,858

close shot of samples getting pipetted
Multiple samples are pipetted at a laboratory in the AHDC. Photo: CVM

Accessions by State 2021

State Number of Accessions
New York* 106,894
Pennsylvania

15,773

Massachusetts

13,007

California

11,920

Florida

9,362

Virginia

7,203

Maryland

6,254

New Jersey

6,007

Vermont

5,797

Connecticut

5,622

Missouri

4,951

All Other States

63,544

Canada 3,347
Other Foreign 1,539
Total Accessions Processed 261,220*

*993 NYS veterinary client accounts, about 7,000 global veterinary client accounts

Accessions by Species 2021

Species Number of Accessions
Equine

134,921

Canine

68,858

Bovine

29,903

Feline

13,074

Avian

3,232

Caprine

3,211

Ovine

1,125

Porcine

1,050

Rodentia

940

Cervidae

856

Environmental

772

Camelids 730
Primate

664

All other species

2,824

Total Accessions Processed 261,220