College of Veterinary Medicine staff use all kinds of animals for research.

So when Michael Conzemius needed to do hip disease research, he used the most logical test subject: emus.

Conzemius, a veterinary surgeon studying the hip disease osteonecrosis, said past research involving the disease has never been successful on animals because it was always done on animals that walk on four legs. Now the researchers are finding more success using bipedal animals for their research.

Conzemius, associate professor in veterinary clinical sciences, said emus were chosen because the animals are large, weigh about 120 pounds, are very active and their anatomy and the blood supply to their hip is similar to humans.

The disease does not occur naturally in emus, Conzemius said, but when blood supply to the bone is inserted, emus’ hips suffer the same changes that a human with osteonecrosis suffers.

Now that researchers have found an animal that replicates the human condition, Conzemius said they can test different treatments to find more successful ways of treating humans.

“The treatments that are currently available aren’t sufficient to prevent the ultimate collapse of the hip joint,” Conzemius said.

Osteonecrosis, which afflicts up to 30,000 people in North America each year, causes the collapse of the hip joint. It can be caused by trauma to the hip, alcoholism and steroids for immune medicated conditions among other things, Conzemius said.

The research does include live animals, but Conzemius said there are three things the group does to limit the number of animals it has to use.

The researchers use computer-generated models of how different treatments might work before they test them. He said this allows them to go into their research with as much information as possible.

They use statistics to help them figure out the smallest number of emus they can use while still getting statistically significant results.

Finally, all of their research must go through the animal care and use committee for review.

The university currently has 20 emus at the College of Veterinary Medicine campus and at the Laboratory Animal Resources Station.

Kathleen Mullin, veterinarian for the emus, said the emus housed are kept in stalls containing two to three birds per stall. At Laboratory Animal Resources Station, the emus are housed eight to 12 in a run, which is enclosed at one end and has a long, narrow fenced-in area outside.

The emus are kept together because they are social animals, Mullin said. The emus have a constant supply of commercial feed and water.

She also said in the summer the emus like to graze the grass, and they do a lot of walking in the narrow run.

The key to dealing with emus is to let the bird think it is in control.

“When you work with them, you want to keep the birds calm,” Mullin said.