[News] A New Deadly, Contagious Dog Flu Virus Is Detected in 7 States
 

[Originally found by NewYorkieMa&Pa]

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.

Dr. Crawford first began investigating greyhound deaths in January 2004 at a racetrack in Jacksonville, Fla., where 8 of the 24 greyhounds who contracted the virus died.

"This is a newly emerging pathogen," she said, "and we have very little information to make predictions about it. But I think the fatality rate is between 1 and 10 percent."

She added that because dogs had no natural immunity to the virus, virtually every animal exposed would be infected. About 80 percent of dogs that are infected with the virus will develop symptoms, Dr. Crawford said. She added that the symptoms were often mistaken for "kennel cough," a common canine illness that is caused by the bordetella bronchiseptica bacteria.

Both diseases can cause coughing and gagging for up to three weeks, but dogs with canine flu may spike fevers as high as 106 degrees and have runny noses. A few will develop pneumonia, and some of those cases will be fatal. Antibiotics and fluid cut the pneumonia fatality rate, Dr. Crawford said.

The virus is an H3N8 flu closely related to an equine flu strain. It is not related to typical human flus or to the H5N1 avian flu that has killed about 100 people in Asia.

Experts said there were no known cases of the canine flu infecting humans. "The risk of that is low, but we are keeping an eye on it," said Dr. Ruben Donis, chief of molecular genetics for the influenza branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is tracking the illness.

But with the approach of the human flu season and fears about bird flu in Asia, there is much confusion among some dog owners who have heard about the disease.

Dr. Crawford said she was fielding calls from kennels and veterinarians across the country worried that they were having outbreaks.

"The hysteria out there is unbelievable, and the misinformation is incredible," said Dr. Ann E. Hohenhaus, chief of medicine at the Animal Medical Center in New York.

Dr. Hohenhaus said she had heard of an alert from a Virginia dog club reporting rumors that 10,000 show dogs had died.

"We don't believe that's true," she said, adding that no dogs in her Manhattan hospital even had coughs.

Dr. Donis of the disease control centers said that there was currently no vaccine for the canine flu. But he said one would be relatively easy to develop. The canine flu is less lethal than parvovirus, which typically kills puppies but can be prevented by routine vaccination.

Laboratory tests, Dr. Donis said, have shown that the new flu is susceptible to the two most common antiviral drugs, amantidine and Tamiflu, but those drugs are not licensed for use in dogs.

The flu has killed greyhounds at tracks in Florida, Massachusetts, Arizona, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas and Iowa. Tracks and kennels have been forced to shut down for weeks for disinfection.

In Chestnut Ridge, north of New York City, about 88 dogs became sick by early September, and 15 percent of those required hospitalization, said Debra Bennetts, a spokeswoman for Best Friends Pet Care, a chain of boarding kennels. The kennel was vacated for decontamination by Sept. 17.

About 17 of the infected dogs were treated at the Oradell Animal Hospital in Paramus, N.J., where one died and two more were still hospitalized, a staff veterinarian said.

The Best Friends chain owns 41 other kennels in 18 states, and no others have had an outbreak, Dr. Larry J. Nieman, the company's veterinarian, said.

In late July, at Gracelane Kennels in Ossining, N.Y., about 35 dogs showed symptoms, said the owner, Bob Gatti, and he closed the kennel for three weeks to disinfect.

About 25 of the dogs were treated by an Ossining veterinarian, Glenn M. Zeitz, who said two of them had died.

"The dogs came in very sick, with high fevers and very high white blood cell counts," Dr. Zeitz said, making him suspicious that they had something worse than kennel cough.

A spokesman for the New York City Health Department said that there were "a few confirmed cases" in New York but that the city was not yet tracking the disease.

Veterinarians voluntarily sent samples to the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine, which was the only laboratory doing blood tests.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/22/na...rticle_popular

how scary is that!!!! :eek:

That is frightening! :(

that's scary!!

Thanks!
 

Hi Eddie! Thanks for posting this after I sent you the article. I really wanted everyone to be informed! :-)

WOW! This is pretty scary! Just one more thing to worry about when it comes to our furbabies!

No problem, sorry for not giving you credit when I first posted this, I was in a complete rush, I'll edit the first post. :)

oh no!! how scary!! thanks for the info!

Welcome to YorkieTalk! Thank you so much for sharing information regarding the treatment of this virus!! Do you have a Yorkie? We would love to hear all about it. We get a bit carried away by these amazing little YorkieBabies and information regarding their health is invaluable!! Thanks!! ;)

Pixiebaby
 

Hi, Ilive in Hawaii. I have not heard anything about flu here. What are the symtoms.My Baby gets real sick about once a month, she won't eat or drink.even her "chocolate" brownies. Her poop at this time will be runny,and looks like chewed up beets,and mucas. I worry about her a lot. Also, her hair is coming out on her legs from chewing. She scratches a lot, even tho she is on a good flea and heartworm program. Has anyone had this happen?

Welcome. Have you had her to the vet and told them about your concerns? Sounds like she may have some type of allergy either to fleas if she has them or something else. I use Frontline & have had no problems. I also use Interceptor for Heartworms. How old is she? How long has she been doing this? I really think that maybe if you haven't already you need to take her to the vet for a check up to see if there is anything medically wrong with her.

By the way I'm Sheila. I have 2 yorkies Mollie 1 1/2 years old and Wyatt 9 weeks. Also Precious a 14 year old Shih Tzu and Sadie a 6 year old Chocolate Lab.

Hi and thanx for the info. The meds that have been tested and were successful are not yet labeled for dogs. So, the vet would have to dispense them or write a prescritpion so that the human can fill the prescription at their own druggist.
As for Pixiebaby's problem, I don't know the cause but I can tell you that I would have my vet do studies and send out any tht need to go to an outside lab. Your description sounds like HGE and could be serious. There are a lot of reasons for that. Good luck with finding the cause..

I hope you all realize that he/she (druv) is spamming the forum.

Do a search for his name associated w/ Tamiflu...and you'll find a few links on other sites he/she posted in. Most of the posts, make reference to the that website.

Now, regarding this dog flu...this will probably be something that we'll have to deal w/ forever. Especially since organizations decided to shop the hundreds of dogs that were stranded in the New Orleans area...clear across the country to say...Los Angeles, CA and other parts of the US. (Personally, shipping them clear across the country did not make sense to me. They should've kept them demographically closer...)

Hi Betty...
 

Thank you for the warm welcome! I am so happy to be apart of YT! We are searching for our Yorkies as we speak, none so far, and hope to be proud Yorkie parents before year end. Doing a lot of research and I have been very fortunate to network with other YT members.
Most importantly, I know how important information is and if there is anything I can contribute to our overall union of keeping each other informed, that is what I am here to do!!! :)

Hi, What is HGE. Yes. I took her to the vet and I even took a "sample" in a plastic bag. He said it could be from a type of bone I was giving her that was red inside and to stop. I did and have been very careful with what she eats, and She still does it about once a week. Like I said, it looks like chopped beets and grass and always runny. Here in Kauai, we have only two vets. I think I will try the other one. I am afraid she might be really sick.
My name is Carole. Thank you

wow
thank you for all the info
everyone stay safe

I do not know ,how you figure this a hoax as it is being talked about at vet clinics with some concern as well as on the news way but here in Canada.
Maybe more research is needed another site to cross refrence but best not
just ingore it yet.

Just a thought. As I know it being posted at other groups with other links.
As I am not able to snag will not.

Joy

deadly virus
 

I have had Cali for 8 weeks and she still has a cough which just got a little worse the last couple of days. My 8 year old pom is also coughing. I have had Cali to the vet for this 3 times and she has had 3 series of an antibiotic. It just seems that it will never go away. I am taking her back to the vet today to check her lungs and temp. This has me so worried since she only weighs 2.2 lbs and she is 4 months old.
She also was reexposed about 6 days ago to a puppy who just came from a pet shop and was coughing before i could get her away from the person at the store.
I will keep you posted.
Thanks

coughing
 

I just returned with Cali form the vet: no fever , lungs clear and they gave me antibiotics for Cali, a different one and one for my pom.
Hope it works. The vet said that the new flu strain has not been detected in Illinois yet as far as he knows but I am going to keep a close watch on her.
Thanks

Here is a site about it... you might want to add it to your favorites as the numbers go up so you can see what is going on in your state.

http://www.diaglab.vet.cornell.edu/issues/civ-stat.asp

I am sorry to hear about the cough. Could this be kennal cough?
I am a new Yorkie owner (mom). Winston is only 10 weeks old at this point. He now weights about 1poud 2 ounces. The breeder warned me about kennal cough explaining that even going to the groomer could cause this..
Of course i wouldn't even have a clue at this earlystage of the game.
I do hope and pray your wee baby comes along just great.
Heather S

Heather,
Thanks for the concern. Cali weighed about the same at 10 weeks. She still has the cough and my pom also has it ever since I got Cali both have been on antibiotics and both are still coughing. Vetsays it is not a collapsed trachea but we can' t seem to skahe the coughs. Both are acting normal otherwise.Thanks patti

Hge / Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis
 

HGE / HEMORRHAGIC GASTROENTERITIS

PLEASE....go read this : http://www.yorkieviews.com/hge.htm

And then get your baby to the vet as soon as possible.3 weeks ago I had first one Yorkie with the same thing and when we went to the vet first thing she said was "you know he could die from this".....Was totally panicked. They get so dehydrated. Thankfully the treated the syptoms and he recovered in the doggie hospital. Second dog came down with it 2 days later. He also had to be hospitalized and the symptoms treated. They are both fine now.

As far as the HGE / HEMORRHAGIC GASTROENTERITIS... it says that Recurrences are possible, but they are not common.

I had a yorkie that had this... I caught it at a very early stage... it was very easy to treat for me because I caught it at a very early stage. No staying in the vet etc... but did need medications... I was just lucky as the first sign of the bloody diarrhea I got my dog right in. When I say bloody diarrhea I mean bloody.

It says recurrences are possible, but they are not common. I can tell you from my past experience it does come back again. It is not as bad as the first time in my case but it does.. and it has came back more than once.

I have medicine at hand all of the time for when I see the first signs of it. If my dog doesn't eat I know it will happen again. I have never been wrong so far here.... once I see his attitude and not wanting to eat then I know I must start the medication right away. I hate to say this but from what I have learned from this dog getting this is it looks like it is a life long thing now.

I would say my dog gets it maybe three times a year. Sorry if I scare you with this but I thought you should know.

I am surprised jakeepaper that a second dog came down with it as when my dog did this no other dog ever had the same problem.

Believe it or not, I work at the UF vet school mentioned in the article and know who Cynda Crawford is. We were all just in a seminar on emerging zoonotic diseases yesterday. What a coincidence I joined the forum today and happened to run across this post. I work specifically with Avian Influenza, but I'm sorta surprised I haven't heard anything about the H3N8, considering everyone in my lab has a dog.

To make the vaccine, what I believe they would be doing is taking the H3 (hemagglutinin) and N8 (neuraminidase) genes from the virus and recombining those segments with another nonpathogenic type of influenza. That is what they did for the H5N1 Avian Flu vaccine that is being tested right now.

I'm gonna talk to some people at lab tomorrow and see if they know anything about it. I'll let you know if I find out anything.

Wow, YT has connections! :D Welcome to YT! Thanks for keeping us up to date..

So I talked to my boss today about it, and he believes there is no vaccine in development at this time. The CDC is working with Cynda Crawford at UF and some people (I believe at Cornell) to monitor the disease clinically. He told me that until it seems to be a great threat there will be not much interest in making a vaccine because pharmaceutical companies would not be able to make money off of developing and producing it. Creating it would not really be a problem at all (they already have an H3N8 vaccine for horses), but the demand and the funding is most likely just not there right now.

Everyone in my research lab has heard about the virus (there was a seminar on it last year before I started working at the vet school), and they are not really concerned with it. I would not be, either, if I were you. It apparently is treatable with Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) and ...that other thingy (thats the technical name), and is a relatively rare problem. Plus, now that you know the symptoms of the flu, you will be more alert to its warning signs in case somehow it ever reaches your yorkies. I am positive that you are all very good parents, so at this juncture I would maintain your level of concernedness at "informed, but not freaking out" stage.

ps-if you want to read a really really dry and sleep-inducing paper on it, I can direct you to an online journal published in Science about it. I read it. I would not if I were you. Unless you were planning on taking a nap anyways ;)

hahaha thanks for the info.. I really hope everyone is right that the flu will not become a big/bigger problem.. :)

I hope the flu will go away soon!
 

I live in Japan and I always watch and enjoy news or talking on this site. But, this time, I found bad news on it. I also have a yorkie girl. I hope we could beat the flu soon. :thumbup:
My yorkie, howry is in her first kimono, for the coming New Year![QUOTE=fasteddie][Originally found by NewYorkieMa&Pa]