Canine Influenza Virus H3n8

[fsugrad]

Anybody see the story on the Canine Influenza Virus H3N8 on Fox News this a.m.?

This originally started off as a horse virus. Then it mutated into a canine virus and was first found in Florida racing greyhounds. (Fox ran footage of greyhounds). Now the canine virus has spread to 30 states.

 

There is a vaccine available and some of the people said they were getting their dog immunized, some said they weren't etc.

 

They said the initial symptoms are coughing, sneezing, and runny nose. Some dogs will develop pneumonia and it has been fatal in some cases.

 

Something else for me to be paranoid about with my hounds.

 

http://www.neelvet.com/i-news-canine-flu.html

[Guest Energy11]

A frieind in Florida has therapy greys and teaches therapy classes. She was concerned for her dogs, and wondered if they should be vaccinated.

 

I asked my former ver/employer about this canine influenza, and here is his response: (He is located in Central Florida)

 

 

Dr. Beau said as far as the flu vaccine- no one here is vaccinating for it. He is waiting and watching to see what kind of problem it really becomes in dogs. If it becomes an endemic problem then we will start vaccinating for it.

He did say that if he owned a large boarding facility where that's all he did then he would consider doing it but not at this time. Charlotte does not need to worry.

 

 

[Guest Hoolyghans]

My Spike is sick with something right now. The vet felt it is either Kennel Cough (has been vax'd for) or the Canine Flu (not vax'd), he said there is a lot of Canine Flu in our area right now (Central Jersey). He's on abx and cough medicine since Saturday and ::::knock on wood:::: he's a little better. Still coughing, still under the weather but going in the right direction. The vet said if it is flu, that's viral and abx do not work on it directly but many dogs are getting a secondary nasty respiratory infection with the flu so he felt abx were the way to go.

 

We are dog park people. The only place he's been around any other dogs in the last 4-6 weeks was the dog park, we had been there 3-4 days before symptoms started (I don't remember exactly what day we were there last) Interestingly, and probably just a coincidence, our dog park is right across the street from a horse race track. A lot of the track employees bring their dogs to work and also the dog park.

[Guest GentleHugs]

I didn't see the story this morning but I heard about it when it first mutated and started affecting the dogs.

 

I asked my vet about it and he said as long as I don't take my dogs to a boarding facility, doggy day care, large dog park or a place where there's a lot of dogs at, we should be ok. He sanitizes his waiting room area 2 to 3 times a day just to be safe, too. I don't board my hounds, use a doggy day care or take my kids to dog parks (I avoid dog parks). I do walk them around our neighborhood though and we have a problem with loose dogs here because we are in the county. a lot of stupid idiots either let their dogs run loose or they dump them around here so I'm always cautious with my kids.

 

The threat we have here is keeping an eye out for rabid bats and rabid skunks this year but that's another story.

 

[Guest wmlcml6]

This article is from 2005. I haven't heard of any new outbreaks here. Sometimes it's just ordinary kennel cough (like our human colds) which takes a couple of weeks to go away and then the dogs are fine.

 

Having experienced the situation first hand in 2005 I can say it was definitely scary, and I will never look at a cough or sniffle the same way. Now when a racer coughs, I check to see first if they just drank water because that's a "went down too fast" cough. If they haven't just had a drink, I put them on my "watch closely" list.

 

The good news is that with immediate medical care and the proper drugs, it's treatable. But you do have to be diligent in watching for symptoms if you know it's going around your community. Lethargy, runny nose, fever, and coughing are all symptoms. A dog could be fine in the morning, but very ill by the afternoon. We used Penicillin-g and Exenel, and had bags of fluid on hand so we could treat dehydration immediately.

 

If you do hear of a cough situation or other virus in your area, your best counteractive measure is to keep your dogs at home. Taking them to events or dog parks or shopping at Petsmart is risking exposure to your pets. Also don't let them drink out of community water bowls. Always bring your own water supply. We have our annual Greyhounds as Pets Day coming up on November 15th at the Orange Park Kennel Club. Even though I know the bowls are clean and intentions are good, I will take my own water supply.

Edited October 14, 2009 by wmlcml6

[Guest caelanarcher]

We've got a big outbreak of dogflu in Northern Virginia here.

 

I had Aaron at the vet about a week ago because he'd swallowed a chunk of bully stick (grrrr), and it seemed like he'd aggravated the back of his throat with it, because he was kind of clearing his throat. I'm a worrier, so I figured better safe than sorry, and drove him over. I described it to the receptionist as a cough, and HOO BOY was that the wrong thing to say. Commence the DogFlu Prevention Measures. They made us go outside to the parking lot. Did the exam outside in the parking lot. Filled out all the paperwork outside in the parking lot.

 

Of course, the big stinker was just fine.

 

The article you link is a couple years old, which is in keeping with the time that it made its first big wave. The NoVA outbreak hit about 2 months ago. Here's a report on it: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...9081403307.html

[fsugrad]

I know that is an old link, I just googled and pasted the first article on H3N8 I found when I got to the ofc this morning. Thanks for posting something more recent, Caelanarcher!

It just caught my attention when Fox ran a story on it this morning, as I'd never heard of it before. And the fact that the virus was first spotted in FL racing greyhounds scared me. Thanks for the info, everyone.

Edited October 14, 2009 by fsugrad

[Guest budsmom]

I remember it in 2005 also, since it delayed my getting a dog by a couple months. There was a quarantine virtually everywhere and no dogs were moving on or off the track. I think that what was the most scary about it then was the unknown factor to it. Nobody was sure exactly what it was or what to do for it and that's always the worst. My vet told me exactly what MC said, if you catch it right away it's pretty easy to deal with and the best way to prevent it is to keep your dogs away from anywhere there has been an outbreak. Since people know what to look for now, it's easier to control it before it gets to an "epidemic" situation again.

[DaisyDoodle]

FSUgrad--you should check the University of Florida website. One of the researchers who discovered the canine influenza was Cynda Crawford, a vet med prof at UF.

 

Here's a link from today on the UF web site: linky

 

There also was an article in the alumni magazine when the story first came out several years ago.