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| © Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America/TNS Canine flu symptoms are mainly respiratory, with coughing, sneezing and a runny nose, followed by fever and sometimes a lack of eating. The virus is not known to infect humans. |
As pet owners protect themselves against flu this season, vets say they should also be thinking about their dog.
While canine flu, unlike the influenza that infects humans, is a
year-round virus, some veterinarians use the flu season to talk to pet
owners about keeping their pets healthy.
The highly contagious H3N2 canine flu strain quickly spread
throughout the Chicago area in 2015 and was believed to have originated
in dogs brought in from South Korea, said Natalie Marks, medical
director at Blum Animal Hospital in Chicago.
The illness can spread “like wildfire” among dogs at parks, boarding
facilities, doggy day cares or even in condo elevators, Marks said.
Symptoms are mainly respiratory, with coughing, sneezing and a runny
nose, followed by fever and sometimes a lack of eating. The virus is not
known to infect humans, she added.
There’s now a vaccine
available for dogs, Marks said, which is effective and, unlike human
influenza vaccines, there are no guessing games on which strains to
include.
Pet owners should talk to their vet about whether their
dog needs the vaccine, which is administered annually and includes a
booster shot in the first year it’s given, she said, adding that she
recommends one for any dog that’s in contact with other dogs at any
time.
“The frustrating part for pet owners is sometimes dogs will
spread the virus before they even look sick,” she said. “That’s why
vaccination is the best strategy.”
While many pets are able to
recover from a bout of canine flu, the virus can become fatal if it
turns into pneumonia — a risk for less healthy dogs, Marks said.
Unlike
human influenza, there is no required, centralized reporting of the
illness, which makes it difficult to track outbreaks, Marks said.
However, animal hospitals can partner with research centers to track any virus spreading throughout the country.
Banfield
Pet Hospitals, with locations across the country, including Chicago,
recently partnered with Cornell University’s Animal Health Diagnostic
Center’s surveillance network, to track canine flu outbreaks. Heidi
Cooley, a veterinarian at a Banfield Pet Hospital in Washington state
said it helps for pet owners to track current flu outbreaks, but she
also advises them to check in with their vet about what they are seeing.
The
center’s data shows Illinois has had the most cases of the H3N2 strain,
likely attributed to the 2015 outbreak, which then spread throughout
the country, said Colin Parrish, professor of virology at Cornell’s
College of Veterinary Medicine. More recent outbreaks were reported in
the San Francisco area, he said.
