Lost Coast Kennel Club of California
Oregon's first case of dog flu confirmed - By PATRICK O'NEILL, The Oregonian
Dog flu, a new disease that can spread rapidly in shelters and dog day-care centers, has made its way to Oregon. The first test done on a blood sample from an Oregon dog confirmed Friday the animal had been exposed to the canine influenza virus. The results were announced by Edward Dubovi, director of an animal virology lab at Cornell University. He and other researchers announced this week in the journal Science that the illness had jumped from horses to dogs. The appearance of a horse flu in dogs is an unsettling reminder of how swiftly and unpredictably the virus can move between species. Health officials worldwide are anxiously watching a deadly bird flu that has infected scores of people in Asia, though it doesn't spread from person to person. There is no evidence of the dog virus spreading to humans. Among samples Dubovi tested from around the country, one from Oregon and four from Los Angeles were positive for the virus. The disease, which has sickened dogs in kennels and dog tracks in several states, was first found among greyhounds at a racetrack in Florida in 2004. The Oregon sample, submitted last week by Zoe Tokar, a Portland veterinarian, was from a 4-year-old female dog that showed signs of fever, coughing and lethargy. Oregon officials, who don't have the ability to test for the disease here, are waiting for results on 12 other blood samples that were taken from dogs at the Multnomah County Animal Shelter. Now that evidence of the virus has been seen in Oregon, dog owners should be alert for the symptoms of illness but not panic, said Emilio DeBess, Oregon state public health veterinarian. About 80 percent of infected dogs who get the disease have only a mild illness, including a cough with nasal discharge that runs its course within a week or two. Cynda Crawford, an immunologist with the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine and one of the Science study's authors, estimates the death rate at 5 percent to 8 percent. Of those infected, about 20 percent show no sign of illness, but can pass the disease to other dogs. So far, there is no vaccine to prevent the spread of the illness. Dubovi said other states reporting positive samples include Florida, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts. He expects the list of states with positive samples to grow next week, as the lab begins processing more samples. "We haven't processed that many samples," he said. "The flood is now hitting the lab and next week, I think, we'll be shoveling them in the door." Similar to kennel cough Veterinarians and dog owners will have a difficult time telling the difference between canine influenza and a common respiratory illness called kennel cough, caused mainly by Bordetella bronchiseptica, a bacterium related to one that causes whooping cough in humans. Robert Franklin, a veterinary internist who operates Oregon Veterinary Specialty Clinic in Raleigh Hills, said the initial symptoms for both involve a dry hacking cough that eventually can develop into pneumonia. DeBess is asking veterinarians who see dogs with symptoms of severe kennel cough to send blood samples to Cornell University. The risk of transmitting the disease is highest wherever large numbers of dogs are gathered -- in animal shelters, canine day-care centers and off-leash parks. Managers of the major animal shelters are scheduled to meet with DeBess on Thursday to discuss ways of separating sick dogs from healthy ones and to look into the possibility of testing animals that show signs of the illness. Day-care precautions The dog day-care industry has flourished in Portland -- a canine-friendly city with an estimated 117,000 dogs -- during the past few years. Dog owners living in downtown condos have dramatically boosted demand for day-care services. Suzanne Losh, owner of Urban Fauna, a pet supply store and grooming salon that provides day-care space for as many as 45 dogs in downtown Portland, says the new virus is high on her radar. Losh has a strict no-cough policy. "If a dog came in for day care and even coughed once, I wouldn't hesitate to send it home," she said. Losh is leery of any dog that comes in fresh from an animal shelter -- and particularly newly adopted greyhounds. She wants owners to keep their adopted dogs at home for at least 10 days -- the incubation period for a lot of dog illnesses, she says. That way some newly acquired illness won't make a surprise appearance at her day care. In addition to vigilance, Losh applies large quantities of bleach solution at the end of each day to disinfect floors, doors, dog dishes and chew-toys. Although the state's only greyhound track closed last year, at least a dozen breeders are turning out the high-velocity dogs to race in other parts of the country. Some of the dogs return to Oregon. Richard Gage, president of the Oregon Greyhound Association, estimates that 50 Oregon racing dogs ran at tracks in other parts of the country this year and then returned to the state. Gage, who frequently makes the rounds of Oregon's 12 licensed greyhound farms, said none of the breeders has reported any ill dogs. The breeders, he said, "are always worried about it (flu) -- especially when they go to Florida." Patrick O'Neill; 503-221-8233; poneill@news.oregonian.com
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