The MSU College of Veterinary Medicine’s recent efforts in Flint focused on the lead contamination in water and potential toxicity to companion animals have helped provided guidance to impacted families. Our clinical, research, and laboratory faculty and staff members, along with development, student services, communications, and dozens of College volunteers, were essential to our work. The collaborative efforts of our Veterinary Medical Center, the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH), and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) made the initiative possible.

Early on in the crisis, the College formed a Flint Core Team, which met regularly to coordinate and guide our involvement in partnership with MDARD and the State of Michigan’s emergency response efforts. Drs. Daniel Langlois, John Buchweitz, Hilda Mejia Abreu, Vilma Yuzbasiyan-Gurkan, Mike Chaddock, and Ms. Kristen Flory were the key College members of the team, along with MDARD’s Assistant State Veterinarian Dr. Nancy Frank and the department’s Animal Industry Division’s response team and representatives from MSU Extension.

The primary goals were to identify the extent of the problem, follow up on any needed animal care, educate the public and veterinarians, provide community assistance, and conduct research and discovery.

College outreach education efforts included creating informational materials for pet owners and veterinary clinics. The team distributed information for pet owners through emergency management channels, churches, animal control, MDARD, MSU Extension, and through the College website. Informational materials for veterinarians were distributed through MDARD and the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA).

College community assistance efforts included six free screenings for lead exposure in companion animals. In areas affected by the water crisis, we selected locations trusted by community members, which supported the success of the screening events. They were held in churches, community centers, Genesee County Animal Control, and the Humane Society of Genesee County.

The volunteer screening clinic teams included up to three licensed veterinary technicians, up to three Research and Teaching Technical Support technicians, up to five veterinarians, faculty from DCPAH, and up to five veterinary students. This was truly a team effort. Between February and May 2016, these volunteers tested more than 300 dogs for lead toxicity.

College research initiatives included an epidemiologic investigation of lead exposure and clinical characterization of toxicity and treatment.

Four dogs tested by DCPAH were found to have blood lead levels of 50 ppb or greater. For this study, blood lead levels of 50–399 ppb were considered to be “probable” cases of lead toxicosis by MDARD, whereas blood levels of 400 ppb or greater were considered “positive” cases of lead toxicosis. One of the lead-positive dogs showed clinical signs that are consistent with lead poisoning, which included weight loss, gastrointestinal distress, and behavioral changes, and did require treatment.

The team also found a number of dogs that had elevated blood lead levels suggestive of an exposure, but not considered toxic. Long-term exposure to high levels of lead can cause neurologic changes in animals.

Detailed data analysis is ongoing and will include evaluating blood levels of lead and other metals by location and clinical parameters. In addition, comparisons with findings in the human population will be undertaken. A peer-reviewed publication is anticipated sometime in 2016.

Media coverage was not a primary goal for the College's Flint Core Team, but our work has drawn significant attention. In addition to a presence within the MSU Community’s Flint initiative, The Journal of the Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) has written on our work, and it also was reported by the Associated Press and covered by CNN, People Magazine, DVM360, and more. A special thanks to Drs. Daniel Langlois and John Buchweitz for their leadership in all aspects of our efforts in Flint and for the many interviews they did with the media.

Everyone in our community can be proud of the way that we came together to serve the animals and people in Flint.