Dog respiratory illness spreading in neighboring Colorado
Dec. 4—A mysterious respiratory illness affecting dogs has shown up in neighboring Colorado and at least 10 other states.
USA Today reports cases of the respiratory illness in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.
Colorado State University researchers are trying to determine if the disease is caused by a new or existing virus or bacteria. According to a news release from CSU, the illness might be a variant of canine infectious respiratory disease complex.
Symptoms include coughing, eye discharge or nasal discharges and sneezing, loss of appetite, trouble breathing and lethargy. Some dogs have developed severe pneumonia.
But the mystery illness also could be an increase in the number of cases of existing respiratory illnesses caused by factors such as more people getting dogs or people having difficulty getting a veterinary appointment and not staying up to date on their dog's vaccines, making those dogs more susceptible to existing illnesses.
In a virtual panel Thursday, Dr. Michael Lappin, an infectious disease professor at CSU, said Colorado saw a 50% increase in dog pneumonia cases from August through November when compared to the same period last year.
The respiratory illness uptick has been noticeable in states such as Colorado and Oregon, instead of spreading nationwide, based on the location of pet insurance claims made through the Trupanion pet insurance service.
Although there's not enough data yet to say anything definitive, that isolated reach doesn't look like a new canine flu, Dr. Scott Weese, director for the Centre For Public Health and Zoonoses at the Ontario Veterinary College in Canada, said during the virtual panel.
"For me, and this is a guess, but it's consistent with this being driven probably more by dog factors than seeing something new," Weese said.
Albuquerque's animal shelters always try to stay prepared for contagious illnesses, because diseases can spread quickly with so many animals in one place. Typically, the shelters' workers are on the watch for parvo, distemper and kennel cough, so they check dogs daily for runny noses and diarrhea.
"Shelters are just like a day care," said Susan Ellis, deputy director for the city of Albuquerque's Animal Welfare Department. "If you think about children in a day care, when one gets it, they all get it, so you want to catch it as quickly as possible.
"That's why having your pet vaccinated is so important, because if they do end up in the shelter at some point, they're protected against these diseases."
The two city shelters are always at capacity and, with 800 to 1,000 animals to care for, preventing infectious diseases is also always a priority.
"We do only take pets from city of Albuquerque residents," Ellis said. "We're not taking any out-of-state pets, so hopefully it won't make its way to New Mexico, whatever it is. We can't really speculate on that. The best thing we can do is be diligent in looking for those symptoms."
