In January 2019, Duke One Health team collaborator, Dr. Siddhartha Thakur of North Carolina State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, collaborated with Dr. Gray to publish an editorial in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene calling for a global One Health effort to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). READ MORE

Sid Thakur is a professor of population health and pathobiology and the director of NC State’s and the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Global Health programs. He studies antibiotic resistance in Salmonella and how antibiotic resistant Salmonella affect food animal and human populations. In his latest work, Thakur compared the genomes of over 200 different strains of Salmonella, looking for genetic similarities across strains. He spoke with the Abstract about what this work can tell us, and how it may help to keep us and our food supply safe. READ MORE

The NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is a part of two global health projects awarded the latest funding from the University Global Partnership Network, an international consortium supporting academic research collaborations.

CVM faculty involved in the funded projects are Kelly Meiklejohn, assistant professor of forensic science, and Siddhartha “Sid” Thakur, associate professor of molecular epidemiology, director of global health at the CVM and the newly appointed director of NC State’s Global Health Initiative. READ MORE

Siddhartha “Sid” Thakur has been named NC State College of Veterinary Medicine’s director of global health, a key leadership position reflective of the CVM’s commitment to solving some of the world’s greatest health challenges facing animals, humans and the environment.

The position, effective July 1, is part of the development of a formal global health program at the CVM to address such issues as animal welfare, food security, infectious disease and animal welfare and sustainability. A strong and impactful global health program is a cornerstone of the CVM’s 2016-2020 strategic plan. READ MORE

A new NC State College of Veterinary Medicine project to strengthen the global fight against antimicrobial resistance has received an Internationalized Seed Grant from the university.

The project is from Siddhartha “Sid” Thakur, CVM associate professor of molecular epidemiology and associate director of the Emerging and Infectious Disease Program at the Comparative Medicine Institute. His is one of five university-wide programs this year receiving the grant, designed to encourage meaningful international partnerships. Paula Cray, head of the CVM Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, is the co-principal investigator of the grant. READ MORE

NC State faculty research helps bolster the university’s academic reputation and solve global challenges. Sid Thakur seeks to address one of those challenges — infectious diseases — through his work in the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Thakur, an associate professor in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology and Associate Director at the Comparative Medicine Institute (CMI), focuses on antimicrobial drug resistance that impacts humans and animals. Antimicrobial resistance is a huge concern where antibiotics used to treat infectious diseases become ineffective for a variety of reasons. READ MORE

New research from the North Carolina State University, US reveals yet another strong evidence of environmental spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), this time, soil being the route of transmission. The research led by Siddharth Thakur shows the spread of Salmonella plasmids carrying genes that are responsible for conferring resistance characteristics in the bacteria in the environment after manure application. Plasmids are small, circular and double-stranded DNA carried within a cell and which can be transferred among different bacteria in animals as well as humans.

In just one year, the GenomeTrakr program at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine has mapped the intricate genetic fingerprints of 700 strains of pathogenic bacteria.

It's just the beginning.

A new grant from the National Institutes of Health and the United States Food and Drug Administration will fund the program at the CVM for two more years and help it expand globally. READ MORE

In the thick of war it pays to know your enemy, and bacteria is an unrelenting, captivating foe.

"How does something that you can't see, that doesn't have a brain, develop very sophisticated survival mechanisms almost immediately?" said Paula Cray, head of the department of population health and pathobiology at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. "You have to be in awe that something has been here since the beginning of time and has outsmarted the smartest of us.

"That is the grand challenge. How do you tame this beast?" READ MORE

When most people think about bacterial antibiotic resistance, they think about it occurring in bacteria found in people or animals. But the environment surrounding us is a huge bacterial reservoir, and antibiotic resistance can be passed between bacteria in the environment, including in the soil. READ MORE

You'd hardly give it a second glance, this new equipment tucked away in the back of a lab on the fourth floor of the Research Building at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM), but it has the power to help the millions affected by foodborne illnesses each year.

About the size of an old-school Mac computer, the MiSeq System easily blends in with its surroundings in the lab of Siddhartha "Sid" Thakur, an associate professor of molecular epidemiology at the CVM. It looks similar to any lab machine found across campus. But it is here where hundreds of isolated pathogens will undergo whole genome sequencing and fed into a sharable worldwide database. The goal: identifying the pathogen early and preventing it from spreading.

It's called GenomeTrakr. And the CVM is the only place you'll find it in North Carolina. READ MORE

Researchers from North Carolina State University have found identical strains of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter Coli (C. coli) in both antibiotic-free (ABF) and conventionally raised pigs. This finding may indicate that these antibiotic-resistant pathogens can persist and thrive in the environment, regardless of antimicrobial usage by pork producers. READ MORE

Researchers at North Carolina State University's College of Veterinary Medicine have joined forces with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to study the prevalence of Salmonella infections in pet dogs and cats.

Dr. Siddhartha Thakur, assistant professor in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology and a member of the Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research (CCMTR), is the principal investigator of the study at NC State. READ MORE

Roaming feral pigs have established populations in 37 of our 50 states, causing an estimated $800 million in damage annually. And they may be sharing much more than just space with their domesticated brethren. Feral pig populations are exploding across the U.S., but there is not much data on the potential threat they may pose from an epidemiological perspective.

Dr. Siddhartha Thakur and colleagues from North Carolina State University aimed to remedy this situation. They collected fecal samples from feral pigs caught in eastern North Carolina to determine whether the pigs could be reservoirs of Salmonella and Clostridium difficile (C. diff.), common pathogens that are of concern to the swine industry due to their effect on domesticated pigs and their increasing frequency of resistance to multiple antibiotics. READ MORE

A North Carolina State University researcher has received a three-year, $592,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study the occurrence of Salmonella in pigs that haven't been given anti-microbial drugs either for treatment or growth promotion.

Dr. Siddhartha Thakur, assistant professor of swine health and reproduction, will take samples from pig populations, their environments, and pork processing plants to determine the strains of the Salmonella pathogen that these pigs may be exposed to, as well as the rate of infection in these environments. READ MORE

Dr. Siddhartha Thakur, assistant professor of swine health and reproduction in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, has received a three-year, $592,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to study the occurrence of Salmonella in pigs that haven't been given anti-microbial drugs either for treatment or growth promotion.

Dr. Thakur, a member of the Center for Comparative Medicine and Translational Research, will take samples from pig populations, their environments, and pork processing plants to determine the strains of the Salmonella pathogen that these pigs may be exposed to, as well as the rate of infection in these environments. READ MORE