IDAHO, USA — State veterinarians across the country - from New Hampshire to Oregon - report a new, resistant respiratory virus that can be deadly to dogs.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) reported more than 100 cases. Without a proper test, WestVet in Garden City cannot definitively determine if they've treated patients with the virus; however, dogs under their care for respiratory illness are experience abnormally difficult symptoms in recent weeks, according to WestVet Medical Director Dan Hume.
Typically, 95% of dogs make a full recovery from what's commonly known as "kennel cough," Hume said. The new virus is resistant to traditional treatment, including antibiotics. Under an expedited timeline, dogs infected with this illness develop pneumonia.
"That cough can get worse to a deeper moister cough and it just kind of goes from there," West Valley Humane Society (WVHS) Lead Veterinarian Wayne Loertscher said. "It's like daycare, you know? If your dog is going to get sick, it will be exposed - or more likely to be exposed - at a place where there's a lot of other dogs and we don't know the vaccination status or immune status of those dogs."
"Keep your dogs in your yard, keep them vaccinated, take good care of them, and keep them out of the Humane Society," Loertscher said. "Our purpose is to reunite people with their pets."
WVHS has not seen a case of this new illness, according to Loertscher. Both Loertscher and Hume offered dog owners the same advice:
- Limit time in dog daycares
- Limit trips to the dog park
- Limit socializing your dog is large settings with other dogs
It will take vets time to understand the virus and the causative agent, according to Loertscher. He suspects a vaccine - or different antibiotic - will be used in the future to treat the virus.
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