Health Committee Report - April 2005

Vicki Daitch, chairperson
Vicki@pngusa.net 

The health committee is working closely with researchers, other breed clubs, and the AKC’s Canine Health Foundation (CHF) to plan and participate in research that might be beneficial to malamutes and to provide up-to-date health information to malamute fanciers.  

Members will soon be receiving a health survey in the mail if you have not already done so.  This survey deals specifically with hair and coat problems in malamutes, with emphasis on alopecia (coat funk).  Let me warn you that the survey is a little complicated, but please don’t be deterred!  Coat and skin problems are complicated disorders, and we need your input.   

Even if you do not have a dog with coat problems, it is very important that you fill out your survey where indicated.  In this way we can learn how prevalent coat problems are and how coat disorder dogs compare with normal dogs.  You should fill out the survey only for dogs that you currently own or co-own.  Do not fill out a survey for anyone else’s dogs! 

Because the survey is done through the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, it is critical that you complete and return your survey right away.  The veterinarians and students working on the project have a limited amount of time because of the way semesters are set up, and it is imperative to finish the project – including tallying and analyzing the responses -- before graduation and summer vacation.  The more responses we have to work with, the better our information will be. 

Through the health committee’s connections with veterinary dermatologists, Dr. Linda Frank of the University of Tennessee has agreed to give a Breeder’s Education talk about canine alopecia at the National Specialty this year.  She is currently working on a study dealing with Pomeranian alopecia, and we look forward to learning what she has found so far.   We are looking into doing a study using malamutes when her current work is complete.  

Connections with other breed clubs and foundations have been a tremendous help in working out how best to attack health problems in malamutes.  We are especially happy to be working with Sheila Blanker (Morrissey), DVM of the Siberian Husky Club of America.  Dr. Blanker and I had talked last year about initiating a thyroid study to determine whether malamutes and other northern breeds might have slightly lower normal thyroid values than are reflected by the all-breed reference range currently in use at laboratories.  When Sheila heard about exactly this kind of study to being proposed by a university laboratory, she contacted the researcher and then contacted me.  We have now been formally asked to participate in this study, pending approval of funding, thanks to the flow of information through networking with other breed clubs and researchers.   

You’ll recall that AMCA is helping to fund CHF grant no. 305, a study to determine whether histocompatibility alleles can be used to identify dogs at risk of developing or passing on autoimmune diseases.  The committee has been working with the principal investigator, Dr. Wayne Potts at the University of Utah, to help get sample DNA.  Because malamutes reportedly have a high incidence of autoimmune thyroiditis, and we hear occasional reports of diabetes and hemolytic anemia, we hoped that we could provide him with at least a few samples.  The information about how to participate in the study is on the Malamute Health web site (www.malamutehealth.org/grant305.htm).   

Dr. Potts has gotten several participants from other breeds via our web site, but only one malamute so far!  If your dog has been diagnosed with hemolytic anemia, diabetes, or thyroid disease, please print the consent form from the web site and take it to your veterinarian to determine whether your dog is a good candidate for the study.  If the malamute breed fancy is to be taken seriously by the research community, we need to put our money – and our dogs – where our mouths are.  Even if the dog is deceased, if you have stored semen, hair with roots, tissue samples, or even baby teeth, it is possible that the dog might contribute posthumously to this important study if his or her diagnosis fits the profile. 

The AMCA board of directors has designated me to be the official club liaison for AKC CHF.   I am enjoying working with Erica Werne, the director of grants.  She has been unfailingly helpful and informative.  I asked her about Dr. Johnson’s grant no. 2290, a University of Missouri study purporting to scan Pomeranian, Keeshund, and malamute DNA for alopecia-related genes.  That study is now finished, and according to Erica, Dr. Johnson has not asked to renew the grant at this time. 

As you all know, the CHF was founded by and is generously funded by the American Kennel Club.  Now the AKC wants to establish an endowment to permanently support the mission of the CHF.  This endowment would, according to the AKC’s press release, allow for “annual operating costs to be financed by interest as opposed to donor contributions.”  In other words, after this endowment is established, every penny donated will go to actual health research, rather than some of it having to pay for administrative costs.  AKC has already donated $500,000, and will offer matching donations up to another $500,000.  You can contribute to this goal by visiting www.akcchf.org.   

We hear a lot of discussion about getting DNA tests for various disorders, and it’s worth saying a few words about why that’s not as easy as it sounds.  For one thing, many of the most devastating diseases are polygenic, caused by the unfortunate confluence of multiple genes in a single animal.  For another, finding one gene that influences a particular trait is much more difficult that finding a needle in a haystack! 

It literally takes millions of dollars sometimes to find a single gene or marker that can be associated unequivocally with a particular disease.  If it were inexpensive and easy to do, we would have more DNA tests for human diseases!  Because we don’t have the money to fund an all-out assault on the canine genome to identify a gene or two, we must wait and watch for promising discoveries in other species or other breeds that narrow down the search to a manageable project.  We can also participate in studies that are already funded by contributing sample DNA wherever possible.  

For example, I’ve been hearing rumors that epilepsy is a growing problem in our breed.  Canine epilepsy researchers of at least two institutions are soliciting DNA from complete families of dogs with at least two affected dogs to help look for genetic commonalities.  That may mean, for example, a mother, father, and all their offspring, where two offspring or one parent and one offspring are affected.  Even better would be three generations.  For some examples of the kinds of sample families that would be most helpful, see www.vetgen.optimal.com/html and www.canine-epilepsy.net/pedigrees.html.  You can also find more information about ongoing research into canine epilepsy on these web sites.  This is a way in which breeders with access to complete families of dogs can quietly participate in important research.  If you choose to participate, you are a hero – thank you! 

If you are interested in helping with the health committee’s work, or if you would like more information about some of our projects, feel free to email or call me.