Clinical Pathology

The Clinical Pathology group comprises of a number of diagnosticians, clinicians, scientists and laboratory technicians investigating various aspects related to laboratory medicine and laboratory diagnostics. The work takes place in the Diagnostic Laboratories by the laboratory staff but there is a continuous and close collaboration with other Clinical Research groups such as the Small Animal Medicine. Collaborative research projects are carried out in the areas of Infectious diseases, including arthropod borne diseases, gastrointestinal diseases in dogs and cats and in FIV and haemoplasma infections in cats.

The main activities of the Clinical Pathology group include the evaluation and validation of laboratory diagnostic equipment, development and clinical evaluation of novel diagnostic tests, performance of studies based on analysis of clinicopathological data and the team also collaborate with the AMR group research at the Vet School, either by collaborating with surveillance and collection of samples or by evaluating diagnostic modalities that can lead to reduced antimicrobial use.

Recent studies

Detection of babesia cf. Odocoilei, babesia capreoli, and anaplasma phagocytophilum in cervids of the scottish highlands, United Kingdom – PubMed
J Zoo Wildl Med 2024 Sep;55(3):750-756. doi: 10.1638/2023-0140.

Prevalence and risk factors for common respiratory pathogens within a cohort of pet cats in the UK - PubMed
J Small Anim Pract 2023 Sep;64(9):552-560. doi: 10.1111/jsap.13623. Epub 2023 May 29.

Feline precision medicine using whole-exome sequencing identifies a novel frameshift mutation for vitamin D-dependent rickets type 2 - PubMed
J Feline Med Surg 2023 Jun;25(6):1098612X231165630. doi: 10.1177/1098612X231165630.

Prevalence of Babesia spp. pathogens in the ticks Dermacentor reticulatus and Ixodes ricinus in the UK - PubMed
Acta Trop 2022 Dec:236:106692. doi: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106692. Epub 2022 Sep 14.

CTSK variant implicated in suspected pyknodysostosis in a domestic cat - PubMed
JFMS Open Rep 2022 Dec 12;8(2):20551169221137536. doi: 10.1177/20551169221137536. eCollection 2022 Jul-Dec.

Evaluation of Interferon-Gamma Polymorphisms as a Risk Factor in Feline Infectious Peritonitis Development in Non-Pedigree Cats-A Large Cohort Study - PubMed
Pathogens 2020 Jul 3;9(7):535. doi: 10.3390/pathogens9070535.

The prevalence of Rickettsia felis DNA in fleas collected from cats and dogs in the UK - PubMed
Vet Parasitol 2020 Jun:282:109143. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2020.109143. Epub 2020 May 19.