Dog owners should watch for canine flu

[Crossfire Bulldogs]

By Lorna Jablonski, Okeechobee News

An outbreak of a respiratory virus that has come to be known as dog flu has pet owners in Florida worried.

This virus originally appeared from June to August 2004 in greyhound racing kennels and dog tracks in Florida, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, West Virginia and Kansas. It reappeared from January through May 2005 at dog tracks in Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, West Virginia, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The virus is an A type influenza known as H3N8 and is believed to have originated in horses. The equine virus, also known as H3N8, has been in horses for 40 years and there has never been any documentation of it being spread to humans.

Because this “canine flu” is a new disease in dogs, all dogs regardless of breed or age are susceptible to the infection and have no immunity to it.

The virus whose symptoms include high fever, chills, mucous discharge from the nose, coughing and difficulty in breathing is highly contagious. While there is currently no vaccine available for the prevention or cure of this virus, antibiotics seem to help.


Most dogs that contract the disease experience a milder form of the flu. while some may develop a more acute disease with clinical signs of pneumonia. These dogs have a mortality rate of between 1 and 5 percent.

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson issued an alert to the public several months ago regarding this dog flu.

It alerted the public to an emerging canine respiratory disease that can mimic symptoms of “kennel cough,” but is more serious and generally requires the attention of a veterinarian.

Known as “canine influenza” or “canine flu,” the disease is caused by a virus that recently has been identified by the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine researchers and has been responsible for severe respiratory disease outbreaks in the past year among racing greyhounds in Florida and other states.

The alert went on to state that the highly contagious virus is beginning to show up in dogs in shelters, boarding facilities and clinics in several areas of Florida — including Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Duval counties.



“We already have alerted veterinary practitioners throughout the state to be on the lookout for canine flu, and we believe it is prudent at this time to advise the public to be aware of symptoms of this respiratory ailment and to respond appropriately,” said Commissioner Bronson.

Gary Barber, director of the Okeechobee County Animal Control facility on U.S. 98 N., stated that they’ve had no problems with this virus. He did state that the facility had several instances of distemper and quite a few cases of the parvo virus in animals brought to the facility, but these cases have since been cleared up. Both of these diseases have preventative inoculations available.

According to Dr. Candace Davis of the Okeechobee Veterinary Hospital if your dog is diagnosed with the canine flu, it should be treated basically the same way as you would treat a person with the flu. Take the animal to a veterinarian for treatment. Follow the doctor’s instructions. Keep the pet quiet and let it rest. It should be given a great deal of fluids. Stress on the animal should be kept to a minimum. But, most of all isolate the dog from all other animals in the household for up to three weeks, depending on how quickly the animal recovers.

“We had two cases of this flu last year. But, there have been no cases this year,” stated Dr. Davis.

When contacted, Mims Veterinary Hospital stated they haven’t seen any cases of the canine flu this year either.