Spring/Summer 2013 Aesculapian Magazine - University of Georgia ...

partners on the project included Zoo Atlanta, the
Emerging Diseases Research Group of the University
of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, the
School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of
California-Davis, and the Cleveland Metroparks
Zoo. Their major goals, as outlined in a 2012 grant
application, include “…designing an innovative and
coordinated national program to investigate ape
heart disease and establish uniform, state-of-the-art
cardiac disease diagnostics, treatment and prevention
strategies for great ape heart disease.”
To meet this goal, the project acts as a
communication hub, bringing together a wide
range of interested parties—zoos across the world,
university researchers, veterinarians, human and
veterinary cardiologists, geneticists, epidemiologists,
nutritionists, pathologists and others—to develop a
timely and coordinated plan to address this critical
health need for the great apes. To date, more than 50
representatives from 33 institutions are taking part in
the project, which is based at Zoo Atlanta.
Zoo veterinarians and other scientists have been
monitoring apes and taking diagnostic and pathologic
samples for the benefit of individual animal health for
many decades. This information, coupled with other
data collected over the years, is now being entered
into an electronic database that will help scientists
pinpoint trends on a larger population-wide scale,
and give caretakers and scientists clues about the
causes and progression of heart disease in apes. Made
possible by another National Leadership Grant in
2012 from the IMLS for $486,580, the database is the
key to information sharing and collaboration on the
project.
The UGA College of Veterinary Medicine has been
involved with the GAHP from the beginning. Key
collaborators on the database development project
include several UGA CVM pathologists and clinicians
representing a wide range of specialties—from the
Infectious Diseases Laboratory, Department of
Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, Department
of Pathology, Department of Physiology and
Pharmacology, and the Athens Veterinary Diagnostic
Laboratory. Each collaborator contributes a unique
perspective and set of skills.
Pathological Insight
Rita McManamon, DVM, is uniquely suited for
her role on the GAHP team. As the former senior
veterinary medicine clinician for Zoo Atlanta, she
came to the University of Georgia in 2005 as a
clinical instructor working for the Infectious Diseases
Laboratory as a postgraduate resident in anatomic
veterinary pathology. She is now jointly appointed to
the CVM departments of Small Animal Medicine and
Surgery, and Pathology, and she serves as the director
of the UGA Zoo and Exotic Animal Pathology
Service (ZEAPS). (ZEAPS is a partnership that
combines the expertise of researchers from the UGA
Infectious Diseases
Laboratory, based
in the Department
of Small Animal
Medicine and Surgery,
and pathologists
from the Department
of Pathology.)
McManamon is team
organizer for the UGA
Great Ape Heart Project
team, as well as the
pathology database
organizer for the GAHP.
“Since Rita has
extensive experience
as both a clinician and
McManamon
a pathologist at Zoo Atlanta and UGA respectively,
she not only serves as a bridge between the various
organizations involved, but she also brings a unique
multidisciplinary perspective to this initiative,” said
Keith Harris, head of the CVM’s department of
Pathology.
McManamon recalls her earlier frustrations as a
zoo clinician when evaluating an ape for potential
heart disease. Just as in humans, heart disease can
be a silent killer, and animals often hide symptoms of
underlying disease. “Zoo Atlanta has always been a
leader in providing cutting-edge animal health care,
and nonhuman primate care crosses the borders
of veterinary and human medicine,” she said. “Our
routine examinations were thorough and helped
by consultation from veterinary and physician
specialists.”
But early efforts were limited by available
technology, techniques and lack of coordinated efforts
among zoos. “Early ultrasound machines produced
very grainy images, and anesthesia was always
required for cardiac ultrasounds, blood pressure
measurements, and blood sampling for lab tests,”
she explained. “Few zoos had access to ultrasound
machines; physician or veterinarian cardiologists
didn’t know what the ‘normal’ values for heart
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