Influenza Is A New Virus For Dogs
Beverley Petrunich, co-owner of DoGone Fun, a day care and boarding facility, visits with some of her clients in Chicago. Experts say doggie day care contributed to an epidemic of dog flu in Chicago that is spreading in the Midwest.
M. SPENCER GREEN / Associated Press
The veterinary school at the University of Georgia has confirmed 55 cases of canine influenza in the state, although it’s not the only lab that can confirm the virus.
One of the reasons the virus is spreading, according to a UGA professor, is that dogs can easily catch it. That’s because the flu is a new disease to them, beginning after the year 2000.
One strain of the virus jumped over from horses. The most recent strain that’s sickening dogs in Atlanta seems to have come from birds in Asia. Since dogs didn’t evolve alongside the virus, their immune systems aren’t ready to fight it, and it can spread easily.
But that doesn’t mean dog owners need to panic, said Kate Creevey, a professor at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine.
“It’s important to recognize the difference between a highly contagious disease and a highly lethal disease,” she said.
According to Creevey, only the very young, very old, or unhealthy dogs are in danger of dying from the flu. Most dogs who get it will feel lousy, then recover.
Creevey said just like with humans, the virus spreads when sick dogs hang out with other dogs — at dog parks, to name one example. And they’re contagious before they start seeming sick.
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