Winn is seeking donations of $250 and up to sponsor specific projects from the 2015 Winn grant review. Sponsors will receive progress reports as they are available and copies of any publications that result from the project that are provided by the investigators. Your help in sponsoring these projects means Winn can fund even more research next year.
One project will help cats through research validating testing to diagnose ringworm in cats quicker. Sponsorship is easy!
W15-001: Comparing a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test with fungal culture for ringworm. $15,375
Principal Investigator: Linda Jacobson, BVScMMedVet, PhD, Lauren McIntyre, RVT, BScH; Toronto Humane Society
Ringworm is currently diagnosed by culturing infected hairs and skin scrapings and observing for growth of fungal colonies. If ringworm is confirmed, the animal needs two negative cultures to confirm a cure. Even if the first culture is negative,
the cat needs to be held back from adoption for 2 or 3 weeks while waiting for the result. IDEXX Laboratories® has recently developed a rapid test for ringworm that identifies ringworm DNA in hair samples and skin scrapings. The PCR test results are available within 3 business days thus cats could potentially be confirmed ringworm-free, or cured, a full 11-18 days sooner. The goal of this study is to compare the IDEXX Laboratories® PCR test with fungal culture in an animal shelter, to see if the PCR test could replace fungal culture for early diagnosis of ringworm and for showing that the animal has been cured after treatment. This could save the lives of many shelter cats.