After you said he had a fever thoght I should post this.


ALERT
THE THREAT OF DOG FLU
June 15th, 2007. Susan Macfarland sent us this web site information from a veterinary clinic near Arlington, VA:

FIRST CASE OF CANINE INFLUENZA IN VIRGINIA
http://www.burkevet.com/

On Wednesday May 23, 2007 a dog presented to the Burke Veterinary Clinic in Burke, Virginia with symptoms of acute onset of fever, nasal discharge, cough, innapetance, and reluctance to move. These symptoms are consistent with several diseases, but the history suggested Canine Influenza. The dog lived in a restricted environment, but was at the Dog Park on Monday May 21. The illness developed that night and progressed to a dire medical event by Wednesday.

Nasal swabs were tested for influenza by the X-PECT FLU A+B test at a local human hospital. These tests were positive for influenza. Official confirmation will require a sample in 2 weeks to be sent to the testing lab at Cornell University.

The impact of this discovery is serious for the dog owning population because Canine Influenza has a 5% fatality rate, and at the present time there is no effective vaccine. This dog contracted the virus from one of a group of dogs that was playing outdoors at a dog park. The virus is spread by aerosol means. Your dog cannot pick it up from the environment. It is advisable that dogs be kept away from each other until an effective vaccine is available. This means NO DOG PARKS, NO INDOOR GROOMING, NO BOARDING KENNELS, NO GROUP DOG TRAINING CLASSES. The initial presentation mimics Kennel Cough. The distinction is that Influenza usually causes a high fever. Influenza also presents in a similar fashion as Canine Distemper Virus, but this virus has been all but eliminated by proper vaccinations
Further information is available at the Center for Disease Control’s website
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol11no12/05-0810.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/transcripts/t050926.htm
and at Remel (Xpect Flu A&B Test Kits).

Dr. Russell comments:

Dog Flu is a new disease (H3N8, 2004). It is a respiratory virus that was transferred from horses to racing Greyhounds and it has subsequently evolved to be a separate, canine adapted virus. This is how viruses evolve: it is termed an "emergent virus." In this case, the first widespread epidemic occurred in 2005.

New viruses can be dangerously virulent because the host species, in this case dogs, have not been associated with them previously and hence have not evolved any successful antivirus immune responses. Further, the virus, coming from another host, is "unsubtle" in its impact on a new host species. It has not evolved any mechanisms that allow it to quietly lurk and reproduce in its new host species.

Should you be concerned about Dog Flu?
While data are scanty, it appears that dog flu has an infection rate of 16% (16 of 100 dogs exposed to canine flu will develop the disease). Of those, 1-5% will die.

Thus far, the canine flu has proven easily transmitted, but with low mortality. Previous estimates of mortality range from 5-8% in Greyhounds to 1% in other dog breeds. To put this in perspective, West Nile Virus has a mortality of >35% in the American Crow and is currently responsible for enormous population declines in more than 13 species of North American birds. The 1918 Spanish flu [H1N1] pandemic had a mortality of less than 5% in humans. The current H5N1 Bird Flu is not epidemic yet in humans; it has a frightening human mortality rate of 50%.

Dog flu outbreaks have appeared this year in several states. In February and again in April, there were outbreaks in Pittsburgh animal shelters. In March, UC Davis (CA) confirmed three cases of dog flu, two in San Francisco and one in Colorado. This June, the dog flu has appeared in VA (see above) as well as south Florida. Since 2005, Cornell University has tested 5133 samples for dog flu; 857 from many states were positive (as of March; see: http://diaglab.vet.cornell.edu/issues/civ-stat.asp).

The dog flu is not transmissible (yet) to either cats or people. Note that of potentially great future concern, Russian authorities have reported that in Azerbaijan, a stray dog contracted bird flu in March of this year (http://www.regnum.ru/english/606869.html); it had likely eaten an infected bird.

BREAKING NEWS: Today, the 27 countries of the EU approved the first canine flu vaccine called Optiflu made by Norvatis. It has not yet been submitted in the US for FDA approval, so we're out of luck here.

If you dog develops a kennel cough-like cough, you should take him to the vet, especially if the dog has a fever. Please monitor the state of canine flu in your area. Avoid dog-dog contact in areas where outbreaks are known (currently, Virginia and Pennsylvania).
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(c)2007 Dr. R. J. Russell & the CTCA