Squires, Richard A. (2006) What's new concerning canine and feline infectious diseases? In: Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the New Zealand Veterinary Nursing Association (252) pp. 129-132. From: Annual Conference of the New Zealand Veterinary Nursing Association, 2006, New Zealand.

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Abstract

Equine influenza virus has crossed the species barrier from horses into dogs. This momentous event, which probably occurred at some time during the last two years, was first detected in Florida and so far the infection in dogs seems to be restricted to North America. Racing greyhounds were seemingly the first dogs to be infected, possibly by direct contact with infected horses. Some racing greyhounds developed signs of an illness that looked like kennel cough, but in many cases was far more severe. Some dogs died. Now many pet dogs of other breeds, in at least 22 States, have been infected. Some of these pet dogs have become very ill and died. Careful investigation revealed that the cause of the new illness was an influenza virus. Molecular and antigenic scrutiny of the virus revealed it to be H3N8 influenza virus, the same kind as is found in horses. Given the remarkably high degree of similarity between the equine and new canine viruses, the most likely explanation by far is that the virus has crossed the species barrier from horses into dogs. The virus seems to be very easily transmitted from dog to dog. Up to 80% of infected dogs become ill, most of them developing a mild and self-limiting respiratory illness. Mortality is much lower, but may be as high as 8%. (For what it is worth, I find this figure incredible. I expect that the true mortality figure will be shown to be much lower as our understanding of this new infection improves). Interestingly, in those dogs that do become very ill, and develop a secondary bacterial pneumonia, enrofloxacin is supposedly contraindicated. This is because a surprisingly large number of the dogs develop a streptococcal pneumonia. Enrofloxacin is not generally recommended for treatment of streptococcal infections.

Item ID:	18299
Item Type:	Conference Item (Presentation)
Keywords:	disease/defect, immune system/immunology, infectious disease, respiratory system, urinary system/urology, viral
Related URLs:	Organisation
Date Deposited:	07 Sep 2011 04:19
FoR Codes:	07 AGRICULTURAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCES > 0707 Veterinary Sciences > 070706 Veterinary Medicine @ 100%
SEO Codes:	86 MANUFACTURING > 8609 Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products > 860901 Veterinary Biological Preventatives (e.g. Vaccines) @ 33% 86 MANUFACTURING > 8609 Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products > 860902 Veterinary Diagnostics @ 33% 86 MANUFACTURING > 8609 Veterinary Pharmaceutical Products > 860903 Veterinary Pharmaceutical Treatments (e.g. Antibiotics) @ 34%
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