Using Military Working Dog Records to Assist With Exposure-Informed Care

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Pathology
• Environmental Health
• Military Medicine

Background:

• Military working dogs (MWDs) share deployment environments and hazards with Service members.
• The Deceased MWD Database (DMWDD) was established to study health consequences of military exposures.
• The DMWDD contains records for 2,922 MWDs with demographics, deployment data, and pathology findings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between deployment to Afghanistan and neoplasia in MWDs.
• To identify specific organs affected by potential deployment-related health risks.
• To inform potential health surveillance for Service members and Veterans.

Main Methods:

• Searched the DMWDD for MWDs deployed to Afghanistan (n=303) between 2001-2023.
• Collated data on primary pathologic diagnoses, focusing on neoplasia in various organs.
• Calculated odds ratios comparing Afghanistan-deployed MWDs to non-deployed MWDs (n=621).

Main Results:

• Afghanistan-deployed MWDs had 1.55 times the odds of neoplasia as a primary diagnosis compared to non-deployed MWDs.
• Increased odds of metastatic neoplasia (1.60 times) were observed in Afghanistan-deployed MWDs.
• Specific organs showed increased odds of neoplasia: liver (1.87), lungs (2.26), prostate (3.03), and pancreas (3.48).

Conclusions:

• Deployment to Afghanistan is associated with increased odds of neoplasia in MWDs.
• Findings align with presumptive cancers linked to recent conflicts, suggesting shared environmental exposures.
• Increased odds of prostate cancer in deployed MWDs may warrant consideration for surveillance in Veterans deployed to the region.