Dangerous dog virus in Ohio

[Merneith]

Ohio dog owners:

There is a dangerous dog illness circulating in Ohio. It’s been seen around the Canal Fulton area but is spreading throughout the state.

The symptoms include bloody diarrhea and vomiting as well as difficulty breathing and possibly even neurological symptoms.

Three dogs in the Cincinnati area died and a dozen more were sickened last month with the illness. Symptoms include bloody diarrhea and vomiting, extreme lethargy, neurological problems, a lack of appetite and other maladies.

“There are countless causes of vomiting and diarrhea in dogs, even bloody diarrhea,” Butera said.

But the illness she has seen in the past few weeks is markedly different, she said.

“What made these cases unique is what the pathologist terms ‘acute necrotizing vasculitis.’ This is when the blood vessels become suddenly damaged and fluid begins leaking out of the vessels,’’ Butera said. ‘‘Because of this, the cases I know of did not just have vomiting and bloody diarrhea, they also developed fluid around their lungs and in the abdomen.”

As the damage to the vessels continued, she saw hemorrhages, physiological shock and blood clots being thrown into tissues, once with fatal results, she said.

Butera’s patients shared some or all of the symptoms as the Cincinnati dogs. Three of her canine patients survived after treatment; one died, she said.

The last part is important - 3 out of 4 dogs survived with treatment. If your dog displays any of these symptoms, get him to a vet asap.

The illness is possibly related to a canine circovirus that was present in the death of some Californian dogs recently. Not much is known about this circovirus yet or even if it’s genuinely the cause. It’s just one avenue to consider.

For the time being, consider keeping your dogs away from the dog parks and kennels and away from other dog by-products.

http://www.ohio.com/news/still-no-definitive-answers-for-dog-killing-illness-theory-points-to-new-virus-1.426574

[Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor]

Can this spread to Humans?

[Merneith]

I think the short answer is “maybe” and the longer answer is, “probably could, but doesn’t seem to have done so, and maybe never will, but it’s all a crapshoot when it comes to virus mutations.”

Circoviruses exist in pigs but it’s only very recently that they became noticeable in canines. It’s still not a sure thing that the Canine circovirus is responsible for the recent dog illnesses and deaths. That’s just what vets are investigating at the moment. So far as I know, it hasn’t made a jump to humans yet.

Here’s some more infos about canine circovirus:

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/19/4/12-1390_article.htm

New virus confirmed in Ohio dog may be infecting, killing other dogs in state

The key thing is, if you live in Ohio, and your dog start displaying symptoms, don’t wait around. Head straight for the vet even if it’s after hours and you need the emergency vet.

[ZipperJJ]

I read about this when it first came out, and I’ve been keeping my dog away from the doggy beach where we usually go twice a week. It sucks because not only was it therapy for her hips it just gave us something to do. Now she is very bored and lets me know it!

I also cancelled her teeth cleaning because it requires anesthesia and kennel time (at the vet’s office) and I’m just not down with that right now.

I’m about 45 mins from Canal Fulton.

What a nightmare, though. I am watching my dog like a hawk!

[2gigch1]

There is a severe outbreak of dog flu in Montgomery Co, NW of Washington DC.

Here is a story my station did about it two weeks ago.

It is important to note the flu can be carried by humans (on their hands, clothes, etc.) and be transmitted from dog to dog via 3rd party touch. Also it is rumored that the outbreak here occurred in a nationally known kennel so the chances the outbreak was spread to a larger area is great.