America gripped by deadly dog flu that has left pet-lovers in fear

[T_i_B]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article315130.ece

Norma and Harvey Sheer checked their two pet English springer spaniels into Best Friends kennel before leaving New Jersey to go on holiday two weeks ago. When they got home their dogs were coughing uncontrollably and showing signs of a new and potentially deadly strain of species-hopping influenza that is terrifying American pet owners.

The dog flu is spreading like wildfire from greyhound tracks to kennels to grooming parlours. Even taking the dog for a walk in the park is a risky activity.

The virus has mutated from a strain of influenza that cripples horses and has killed racing greyhounds in seven states. The illness starts by mimicking the common kennel cough. Many animals develop pneumonia, with sometimes deadly complications.

The canine flu, for which there is not yet a vaccine, is causing pandemonium among dog owners, who find they can no longer simply drop off the dog with the walker and assume the best.

[dusty64]

1. This is very

scary. My son with fur is really into the social scene and we belong to a meetup group that has events every other week. I am not sure what I should do now or how to handle this.............

[robcon]

2. This is a scary story, but it's also a phony story.

1. "America gripped by deadly dog flu that has left pet-lovers in fear"

If that isn't the phoniest scare I've ever heard, I can't imagine what is. I have a dog, so do several of my neighbors, my sister, my brother, etc. We're not "gripped" by anything.

2. " Even taking the dog for a walk in the park is a risky activity."

This is ludricous and false scare-mongering, IMO

[belpejic]

3. Don't be gripped by fear

I'm an infrequent poster on DU, but I'm an avid lurker.

I'm also a dog owner in Manhattan who takes his dog to doggy day care.

Over the summer a big wave of kennel cough, which even affected dogs who had been inoculated against it, hit the city. My dog care facility was on top of informing clients about it. My dog -- still a puppy -- unfortunately contracted it. He ended up being fine -- I took him to the vet right away, and antibiotics cleared it up. He wasn't allowed to go back to day care for two weeks, though. That was a smart move on the facility's part, and I was happy to oblige, even though it posed inconveniences for me.

I took my pup to the vet this weekend for an unrelated matter, and I asked her about the latest news regarding this "killer" pathogen. She told me that it appeared as if the news was catching up late to a phenomenon that NYC vets had known about since the summer. It was only until a necroscopy had been performed on an unfortunately deceased dog (redundant, I know) that the pathogen had been isolated, but vets in NYC had been successfully treating the disease all along, even though they hadn't bothered to isolate the pathogen. Vets believe that once your dog gets this particular strain she's unlikely to get it again.

I say all of this not to minimize the fact that if your doggy gets kennel cough -- which is a highly contagious and potentially dangerous disease -- you should take her to the vet right away. But it appears as if the real risk is to dogs that are permanently in kennels and don't receive the best care. This is definitely not something about which a responsible dog owner should get overly paranoid. If you're seriously worried, and not in Manhattan (it seems to have run its course here -- my vet in Chelsea informed me that they hadn't seen a case in over a month), keep your dog out of kennels and dog runs. But even if your dog gets kennel cough, she'll likely be fine if you address the situation ASAP. BTW, it's hard to mistake kennel cough -- your dog will be hacking like crazy.

I think the NY Times was very irresponsible in initially reporting this story without adequately sourcing it. Just another sign of a once great paper in serious decline.

[grasswire]

4. I wonder if there's been a crossover to cats

Two in my household started sneezing furiously the other day. Because my vet has previously told me that any sneezing cat isn't sick but has hay fever, I've ignored it.

[kestrel91316]

7. Sorry, but I have to squelch this speculation RIGHT NOW.

This is a canine virus. There is no evidence whatsoever of any threat to cats. NONE. Please do not spread this sort of nonsense even by speculating. You KNOW people will just take it and run with it.

BTW, cats do not get "hayfever". The upper respiratory tract is not a target organ for allergies in the cat like it is in humans. Your cats very likely have feline rhinotracheitis, an extremely common respiratory herpesvirus in cats. I put my FHV kitties on l-lysine which does a lot better job than antibiotics or antihistamines, which have zero benefit in treating it. Talk to your vet about this. If they don't know whot you are talking about, find a vet who knows more about kitties.

[grasswire]

11. are you a veterinarian?

Just asking.

[kestrel91316]

15. Yep. DVM 1982 Colorado State University (also BS in Microbiology

also from CSU, 1978). Feline practitioner exclusively since 1991.

[grasswire]

18. lucky you to have so much time off!

Most veterinarians I know are working like dogs (you should excuse the expression). I never knew one with time for message boards during the week.

[kestrel91316]

19. I work a 55 hour week and have done so for 14 years. 5 1/2 days a week.

You have a problem with me enjoying some computer time in my evenings?

Is this intended to be nasty or are you just poor with words?

[LisaL]

20. Oh please! I am pretty sure most people who post on message

boards have jobs. Anybody can find a time to post now and then.

[kestrel91316]

21. Betcha this is a person who finds a way to b---h about the cost

of vet care, too.

Just a suspicion. Some folks on here are vet-haters and have trouble concealing it.

[karlrschneider]

23. I've known DOZENS of vets (my niece is one) and they ALL have been

true animal lovres. (I can't imagine anyone who wasn't ever becoming one)...but I will say that some few of them do let their love of money almost get in the way of their compassion. I really hate to say that...but well, there it is. ONE of them tried to show me 'x-rays' of one of my doggies that were totally bogus...not even close to a picture that could have come from a real one. But that was an unfortunate exception.

[kestrel91316]

24. Here in Los Angeles we have a few vet charlatans who need a good

tarring and feathering and running out of town on a rail. Unfortunately our state veterinary board is terribly underfunded, especially now that Ahhhhnold has gotten busy with the budget, and so enforcement of the Veterinary Practice Act takes a back seat. Fortunately, the bad vets seem to be fewer every year as the really old obsolete ones retire. But there are still a number of cheats who like their money a bit TOO much.

[T_i_B]

26. Do you have the PDSA in the US?

One wonderful charity.

http://www.pdsa.org.uk/pages/index.cfm?CFID=2128928&CFTOKEN=65809923

[barb162]

25. thanks a lot for the info; I have cats....n/t

[htuttle]

12. I agree with the other poster -- cats don't get 'hay fever'

We had a similar case with our cat years ago. Sneezing and mucus all of a sudden. Vet said it was nothing.

Turns out, it was a cryptococcus infection (it's a type of fungus found in bat guano, bird shit, and other stuff). We had asked our vet about the possibility the first time, and they said it wasn't found around here. They were wrong.

What followed was about 3-4 months of very expensive daily treatments (with a different vet!), and he barely pulled through. He finally died of a brain tumor 3 years after he'd apparently gotten better. The vet who treated him at the end said it was probably caused by the original damage from the crypto (the tumor started in one of his previously infected eyes and worked it's way in).

I guess the moral of the story is to get a second opinion if you have any doubts about your vet's diagnosis. I've met lots of good vets, and a few really bad ones -- and I live in a very vet-filled city (Madison, WI, where the WI vet school is).

[kestrel91316]

16. Cryptococcosis is, fortunately, one of the more rare causes of sneezing

and nasal discharge in cats. Can be frustrating to treat. The few cases I have seen, the owners could not afford to treat aggressively, or were too elderly to do a good job of it (forgetful).

Much more common and less dangerous is feline herpesvirus, which we have been having good results treating with l-lysine. I use it myself to prevent the cold sores I have been tormented by for 40 years - i SWEAR by it, lol!

[kestrel91316]

5. We vets are well aware of the new dog "flu" , and we are also

aware of the MASSIVE unwarranted hysteria and fearmongering on the internet and in show circles about it. The universities and public health vets are studying it, and because it looks so much like other diseases they are trying to determine its actual incidence.

I am a cat vet so I don't pay much attention to dog stuff, but this much I know.

And no, it does not pose any threat whatsoever to humans at this time.

[tatertop]

6. that is good to know

[karlrschneider]

22. Good post. We had a visit from an old friend moving from Seattle to

Tampa 3 weeks ago...his black Lab had developed a fairly mild case of this "Kennel cough" (google for details) before he got here. I went to our vet and got 3 doses of the nasal inoculation for our three doggies. None of them had any problem and by the time he left a week later his pup was fine. This is just another TERRA thing that's supposed to keep us all in fear.

[yellowcanine]

8. Aren't we talking about canine parvovirus? It is deadly for puppies,

particularly pet store puppies, but that is about it, no?

[belpejic]

9. Not from what I hear...

I understand, from my vet and from my dog care facility (the latter of which consults with several vets in NYC), that it is canine infectious tracheobronchitis.

[kestrel91316]

14. Most the cases of suspected "canine flu" are probably NOT

influenza virus (which is a mutation of the equine influenza virus, and sort of related to canine distemper virus, IIRC) but rather the more common and very treatable infectious tracheobronchitis (caused by a bacterium and a virus in conjunction).

Further study of serum and tissue samples will show what percentage is one versus the other.

[RamboLiberal]

10. I wouldn't pooh pooh the risk - I think dog owners just need to

be sensible, you just might want to keep at risk dogs (i.e. young, elderly) out of the social scene a bit. And just like kids, if your kid is exibiting symptoms, then don't take him/her in to the social scene.

Anyone remember the year or two parvo virus spread among canines? Now that one was scary. I remember my next door neighbor's pedigreed Alaskan Malamute got it just from being taken on walks where other dogs had been. He died almost overnight and my family had to live in fear for a few days to see if our dogs had contracted it from him since they would nuzzle through the fence. I'm so glad they found a vaccine for that one!

I know this cough has shut down some greyhound tracks for a few weeks. I think I'll keep my girl away from the dog park for awhile.

[ElectroPrincess]

13. The following is a more informative article

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/22/national/22canine.html?ei=5089&en=5ce0e29cf9f98dfb&ex=1285041600&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

A new, highly contagious and sometimes deadly canine flu is spreading in kennels and at dog tracks around the country, veterinarians said yesterday.

The virus, which scientists say mutated from an influenza strain that affects horses, has killed racing greyhounds in seven states and has been found in shelters and pet shops in many places, including the New York suburbs, though the extent of its spread is unknown.

Dr. Cynda Crawford, an immunologist at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine who is studying the virus, said that it spread most easily where dogs were housed together but that it could also be passed on the street, in dog runs or even by a human transferring it from one dog to another. Kennel workers have carried the virus home with them, she said.

How many dogs die from the virus is unclear, but scientists said the fatality rate is more than 1 percent and could be as high as 10 percent among puppies and older dogs.

[Lilyhoney]

17. It has been reported in many places.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/22/MNG0DERQA81.DTL&type=health

[Fuzz]

27. OH SHIT! I had my 7 month old black lab puppy at a Best Friends Kennel

just two weeks ago overnight. Just this morning my daughter noticed a cough and remarked it was like the cough she had as a puppy when we got her.

Now I'm freaking out.