Greyhound Disease, Race Flu

[BeeJay]

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This was recently posted on a US dog list that I'm on. This was going through the racing greyhound kennels over there and killed many dogs. As far as I know it's not here yet.

Permission to Crosspost

The New Canine Influenza, Greyhound Disease, Race Flu, Equine

Influenza, Avian Flu

The New Canine Flu, which has killed so many greyhounds is now in

the domestic dog population. There is no treatment and no vaccine.

It has jumped species, (by feeding greyhounds raw horse meat, which

was infected with horse influenza), (horse influenza is avian flu,

which jumped species from birds (avian flu), to horses(horse

influenza). The avian flu has now moved to racing greyhounds and

domestic dogs and the indications are that there may be a potential

problem for humans. It is deadly and it is on the loose. It may just

be a matter of time. The CDC is watching the disease.

There is no central tracking agency with report and stat capability

for dogs that will get the word out to all vets in the US.

race flu

Greyhound Disease, Race Flu

The domestic dog population is at present risk.

This week on my net groups I saw many anecdotal accounts of $100,000

show dogs dying while packed in ice and hooked up to IVs, with high

temps. No one knows what is wrong with these dogs and the vets do

not know what they are treating. I think it is Greyhound Influenza

or Race Flu.

Show populations are now infected and the majority of veterinarians

have never heard of the disease. Isolated individuals know this but

the country as a whole does not. A few days after exposure at dog

shows, dogs are traveling back to their home states and infecting

the local populations. Many dogs are dying needlessly. It is not

kennel cough.

The period of incubation is 2-5 days. It is airborne, can be

transmitted by inanimate objects, and clothing. Virtually all

exposed will contract. The morbidity is 80% with 20% being sub

clinically affected and shedding the virus. The course of the

disease is four weeks. There are two forms, milder and very extreme.

Two weeks into the viral disease the dog looks like he is getting

over the cough and then bacterial infections become an acute

problem. Oft times the owner has reported the dog is well, only to

find that a short time later an acute bacterial infection has taken

over the dog, in a matter of hours. The owners think the disease

has run its course only to learn it hasn't gotten started yet, so

dogs are dying needlessly.

My vet thinks earlier rather than later treatment with broad

spectrum antibiotics are the best way to treat the disease. With

proper vet care perhaps there will only be a mortality of 1-5%.

The information needs to go out so that all vets will know this is

not kennel cough, so they will not VAX for kennel cough while ill,

and so they can monitor beyond the two week period.

It has been almost impossible for me to understand how in the last

four days i have contacted state vets who have never heard of the

new influenza, all the while, the people with the info on the

disease, refuse to release it nationally.

The AVMA has info that will go out next month. How many will die

prior to that? I have begged and cajoled them to do this, so perhaps

we are making some headway, however, we need info to go out ASAP.

APHIS says it is not their job.

The people who are handling research on the initial outbreak in

FLA., are contacting local, (FLA) BUT not national sources to

disseminate information.

Below is a link to a photo album in which i placed the FLA

Veterinary Alert and Advisory, which was put out by the FLA VET MED

ASSOC., at the request of the State Vet. It is not on the state

website.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y249/citycolumbus/

In my conversations with the researchers at the U. of FLA. I was

told, by the lead researcher, who owns greyhounds, that they have

no responsibility to provide this info to other states or to other

vets. (BTW, Is some of the research funded by the gaming

organizations?) (My state,GA., the state of FLA., and three highly

placed individuals at Pfizer, told me to call the researcher.) The

researcher said to me that cultures do not need to be done on

potential affecteds, and she denied that the illness is from horses,

though she is quoted in articles as applauding the Cornell

researcher who identified it as horse influenza. The FLA state vet

said:"We know it came from horses."

The researcher is working to do a contracted vaccine with " a

company." She is working on a paper. She did not want to discuss the

influenza though her name, email and number appears as the contact

source on the state of FLA Veterinary Alert and Advisory that went

out to all FLA vets. I was told by some at Pfizer that Pfizer is

not the company who is helping her develop the vaccine.

The researcher said the FLA VETERINARY ALERT AND ADVISORY should

not be put on the net. However the FLA state Vet, Dr. Thomas Holt,

told me, on Fri., Sept 16, 2005 to put it on the net..."Feel free to

use it."

AGAIN< I have spoken to state vets who do not know anything at all

about this illness even though the state of FLA. put out memos on

the influenza in August 05 in the state of FLA., without notifying

other states.

If the researchers are correct there will be a national epidemic.

When a disease is in a mobile population an epidemic is possible.

Large groupings of dogs, such as shows, kennels, rescues, etc., are

at risk.

Most vets across the country have never heard of the disease. A

treatment protocol has not been developed. They are treating it as

if it is kennel cough. All vets need to be informed about it ASAP!

Many of us concerned dog people would like to see state statistics

compiled on the illness and the eventual treatment outcomes.

We need you to get the word out.

What can you do?

1. Request that your state vet put this info on the state website,

and that he send this info to all accredited vets in his state

requesting that all vets report the incidence of the disease,

diagnostic tests and the course of the illness to the state. Each

incidence of illness needs:

a. Live cultures performed at a diagnostic laboratory

b. Written reports on the disease by the attending vet

2. The AVMA needs to act now and provide ALL information regarding

this disease to all members, pls contact them and ask them to

contact all members with info. Please ask them to put something up

on their website.

AVMA email:

avmainfo@avma.org

WEBSITE:

http://www.avma.org/

3. Put the FLA VETERINARY ALERT AND ADVISORY ON YOUR WEBSITE.

4. Contact the State Vet of Fla., and ask him to provide the FLA

Veterinary Alert and advisory to all state vets, and to all state

vet med associations, and to put it up on the FLA state Ag website:

FLA State Ag:

http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/index.html

Email for FLA state Ag Commissioner: commissioner@doacs.state.fl.us

State Vet:

pls contact him:

Dr. Thomas Holt

Phone: 850 410-0900

FAX: 850 410 0915

email: holtt@doacs.state.fl.us

We hope this will lead to better understanding of the disease, its

mode of transmission, stats, treatment, and vaccine. WE HOPE THIS

WILL SAVE LIVES!

Please help us get the word out.

 

[kris]

sorry i dont know how to rmove this its posted twice.

 

[kris]

that is so scary.reminds me of when parvo first came to this country an dogs were dying like flies with no vaccines or anything to combat it at first.this bird flu is frightening, i watched a program last night where an official of the world health organisation was saying it will cross into the human population and will possibly kill thousands.the british government hasnt laid down any of the regulations that have been put into place in countries like holland where free range chickens are locked indoors now and not allowed outside.

 

[Seraphina]

As far as i know the avian flu has not spread past Asia and can only be transmitted from bird to bird, or from bird to human. Not from human to human.

As there have not been cases of avian flu in the US birds it's not very likely it is there in horses.

To jump species the virus has to mutate first and there is only about 10% chance of that to happen, and there is a antiviral drug available, which is effective against this flu. Also existing flu vaccines give a limited protection.

So lets not panic!

Lida

 

[BeeJay]

Here's a bit more on this influenza.

From The New York Times.

A New Deadly, Contagious Dog Flu Virus Is Detected in 7 States

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. and CARIN RUBENSTEIN

Published: September 22, 2005

A new, highly contagious and sometimes deadly canine flu is spreading in kennels and at dog tracks around the country, veterinarians said yesterday.

The virus, which scientists say mutated from an influenza strain that affects horses, has killed racing greyhounds in seven states and has been found in shelters and pet shops in many places, including the New York suburbs, though the extent of its spread is unknown.

Dr. Cynda Crawford, an immunologist at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine who is studying the virus, said that it spread most easily where dogs were housed together but that it could also be passed on the street, in dog runs or even by a human transferring it from one dog to another. Kennel workers have carried the virus home with them, she said.

How many dogs die from the virus is unclear, but scientists said the fatality rate is more than 1 percent and could be as high as 10 percent among puppies and older dogs.

Dr. Crawford first began investigating greyhound deaths in January 2004 at a racetrack in Jacksonville, Fla., where 8 of the 24 greyhounds who contracted the virus died.

"This is a newly emerging pathogen," she said, "and we have very little information to make predictions about it. But I think the fatality rate is between 1 and 10 percent."

She added that because dogs had no natural immunity to the virus, virtually every animal exposed would be infected. About 80 percent of dogs that are infected with the virus will develop symptoms, Dr. Crawford said. She added that the symptoms were often mistaken for "kennel cough," a common canine illness that is caused by the bordetella bronchiseptica bacteria.

Both diseases can cause coughing and gagging for up to three weeks, but dogs with canine flu may spike fevers as high as 106 degrees and have runny noses. A few will develop pneumonia, and some of those cases will be fatal. Antibiotics and fluid cut the pneumonia fatality rate, Dr. Crawford said.

The virus is an H3N8 flu closely related to an equine flu strain. It is not related to typical human flus or to the H5N1 avian flu that has killed about 100 people in Asia.

Experts said there were no known cases of the canine flu infecting humans. "The risk of that is low, but we are keeping an eye on it," said Dr. Ruben Donis, chief of molecular genetics for the influenza branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is tracking the illness.

But with the approach of the human flu season and fears about bird flu in Asia, there is much confusion among some dog owners who have heard about the disease.

Dr. Crawford said she was fielding calls from kennels and veterinarians across the country worried that they were having outbreaks.

"The hysteria out there is unbelievable, and the misinformation is incredible," said Dr. Ann E. Hohenhaus, chief of medicine at the Animal Medical Center in New York.

Dr. Hohenhaus said she had heard of an alert from a Virginia dog club reporting rumors that 10,000 show dogs had died.

"We don't believe that's true," she said, adding that no dogs in her Manhattan hospital even had coughs.

Dr. Donis of the disease control centers said that there was currently no vaccine for the canine flu. But he said one would be relatively easy to develop. The canine flu is less lethal than parvovirus, which typically kills puppies but can be prevented by routine vaccination.

Laboratory tests, Dr. Donis said, have shown that the new flu is susceptible to the two most common antiviral drugs, amantidine and Tamiflu, but those drugs are not licensed for use in dogs.

The flu has killed greyhounds at tracks in Florida, Massachusetts, Arizona, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Texas and Iowa. Tracks and kennels have been forced to shut down for weeks for disinfection.

In Chestnut Ridge, north of New York City, about 88 dogs became sick by early September, and 15 percent of those required hospitalization, said Debra Bennetts, a spokeswoman for Best Friends Pet Care, a chain of boarding kennels. The kennel was vacated for decontamination by Sept. 17.

About 17 of the infected dogs were treated at the Oradell Animal Hospital in Paramus, N.J., where one died and two more were still hospitalized, a staff veterinarian said.

The Best Friends chain owns 41 other kennels in 18 states, and no others have had an outbreak, Dr. Larry J. Nieman, the company's veterinarian, said.

In late July, at Gracelane Kennels in Ossining, N.Y., about 35 dogs showed symptoms, said the owner, Bob Gatti, and he closed the kennel for three weeks to disinfect.

About 25 of the dogs were treated by an Ossining veterinarian, Glenn M. Zeitz, who said two of them had died.

"The dogs came in very sick, with high fevers and very high white blood cell counts," Dr. Zeitz said, making him suspicious that they had something worse than kennel cough.

A spokesman for the New York City Health Department said that there were "a few confirmed cases" in New York but that the city was not yet tracking the disease.

Veterinarians voluntarily sent samples to the Animal Health Diagnostic Center at the Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine, which was the only laboratory doing blood tests.

 

[Seraphina]

Here's a bit more on this influenza. 
From The New York Times.

A New Deadly, Contagious Dog Flu Virus Is Detected in 7 States

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. and CARIN RUBENSTEIN

Published: September 22, 2005

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

This article sounds lot more factual.

Hopefully, we have a vaccine soon.

:luck:

Lida

 

[BeeJay]

> Virulent Dog Virus Hits Area Kennels

> -------------------------------------------

> A new strain of influenza that began infecting dogs in Florida early last

> year [2004] has recently struck hard in the Westchester area, forcing the

> temporary closure of 2 kennels, after more than 100 dogs being boarded

> there became ill, veterinary officials say.

>

> At least one of the dogs has since died. The 2 sites, Gracelane Kennels in

> Ossining and a branch of Best Friends Pet Care in Chestnut Ridge in

> Rockland County, have undergone decontamination procedures.

>

> Local veterinarians with experience in treating flu-infected dogs are

> advising owners to be judicious about boarding their pets in the near

> future and resist taking them to crowded day care and grooming facilities,

> dog parks or anywhere else that animals can come into close contact with

> one another.

>

> "I've been telling any client of mine who boards their dog to be very

> careful," said Russell Katz, a Pelham veterinarian, who added that he

> believes he has treated at least 5 dogs with signs of canine influenza

> virus.

>

> The symptoms mimic those of bordetella, a less virulent illness commonly

> known as kennel cough, for which all dogs must be vaccinated before they

> are boarded. Health officials fear that this similarity has contributed to

> under reporting of the spread of the new illness, both locally and

> nationally.

>

> There is not yet any vaccine for the new virus, which is believed to have

> jumped from horses to dogs last year [2004]. Nor has it yet been

> officially

> named or detailed in the scientific literature. At this point, diagnosis

> can be confirmed only through blood tests performed at the Cornell

> University College of Veterinary Medicine, and results take as long as 2

> weeks.

>

> Dr. Katz suggested that, before taking pets to grooming parlors or dog

> playgrounds, owners "ask questions of other owners about whether the dog

> has been kenneled." But he admitted that even such extreme caution might

> ultimately be pointless, as dogs do not yet have any natural immunity to

> this illness. "It will be really impossible for anyone to have a normal

> life with a dog and avoid any contact with this virus," he said.

>

> In his own practice, Dr. Katz added, any dogs with a cough will be made to

> wait outside the waiting room or in a far corner of it. He plans to move

> them quickly into a treatment area and afterward to make sure that any

> surface they have touched is treated with bleach to minimize the

> possibility of exposure.

>

> The researcher who 1st isolated the virus in greyhounds, Cynda Crawford,

> is

> a veterinary immunologist at the University of Florida College of

> Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville. She had been reluctant to talk about

> the disease, pending publication of a scientific paper on the topic, she

> said, but relented last week [3rd week September 2005], because not doing

> so was bothering her. "This is a new, emerging respiratory pathogen in

> dogs," Dr. Crawford said, "and it is my job is to inform veterinarians of

> the threat." Her ultimate goal, she said, "is to alleviate fear and panic

> among dog owners."

>

> But that may be not be so simple. About 80 percent of dogs infected with

> the disease will show symptoms, Dr. Crawford predicted. These include "a

> moist, productive cough that ends in a gagging response that will persist

> for one to 4 weeks, despite treatment with antibiotics or cough

> suppressants." Although antibiotics have no effect on the virus itself,

> they may prevent secondary bacterial infections. "Some dogs develop a

> thick, yellow discharge from the nose," she added. "A very few dogs will

> spike a high fever, between 105 to 107 F. They become lethargic and weak

> with rapid, shallow breathing. This is likely to progress to pneumonia,"

> which is where antibiotic treatment can help. As many as 10 percent of

> dogs

> will die of the disease, she believes. Bordetella, by contrast, is rarely

> fatal among adult dogs.

>

> About 35 dogs boarding at Gracelane Kennels in Ossining appear to have

> contracted the virus in late July 2005, according to the facility's owner,

> Bob Gatti. As a result, he said, all 3 kennel buildings were closed during

> August, his peak boarding season. He says he lost about USD 35 000 in

> revenue, with boarding fees for about 90 dogs a day, and spent at least

> USD

> 1500 on disinfectants and on paint for the interior partitions and floors

> of his combination indoor-outdoor kennel. Although he said he did

> everything possible to kill any leftover virus, Mr. Gatti acknowledged

> that

> "it's not foolproof. I don't know if there's any kennel than can stop an

> airborne virus," he said, adding that he would refuse to board any dogs

> that exhibit symptoms and would get them out of the building as quickly as

> possible. Mr. Gatti estimates that he has spent USD 2000 on veterinary

> bills and antibiotics to treat dogs taken ill while boarding with him.

>

> Glenn M. Zeitz, an Ossining veterinarian, says he has treated about 25

> dogs

> infected with the virus, some from Gracelane, some from a nearby dog park,

> and at least one from another kennel, which he refused to identify. 2 of

> the 25 have died; Mr. Gatti says neither of them were from his kennel.

>

> The virus has also struck the Best Friends Pet Care facility in Chestnut

> Ridge, sickening 88 dogs, about 15 percent of which required

> hospitalization, according to Debra Bennetts, a spokeswoman for Best

> Friends, a chain based in Norwalk, Connecticut with 42 locations in 18

> states.

>

> The facility was emptied of animals by 17 Sep 2005, she noted, and the

> staff has since begun decontamination. The company is mailing information

> about the new virus to 1200 veterinarians who practice near the locations

> of the other 41 Best Friend facilities, Ms. Bennetts said.

>

> The company's consulting veterinarian, Larry J. Nieman of Norwalk, has

> also

> sent a copy of an advisory notice, titled "Canine Influenza Virus Detected

> in Dogs in New York State," to 100 veterinarians in Westchester, Rockland

> and northern New Jersey. The statement was originally released by the

> State

> Division of Animal Industry on 9 Sep 2005, Ms. Bennetts said.

>

> Last week [3rd week September 2005], the company began to clean the

> circulation system in Chestnut Ridge, replacing air conditioning filters,

> among other things, "to ensure there is no latent virus," said Ms.

> Bennetts. The kennel will not reopen until early October 2005. However, as

> the scare was developing, on 8 Sep 2005, the company opened a new branch

> in

> White Plains for pet boarding, training and day care.

>

> As for what became of the infected dogs, about 17 of those that fell ill

> at

> Best Friends were treated at the Oradell Animal Hospital, in Paramus,

> N.J.,

> where one died and 2 were still hospitalized last week [3rd week September

> 2005], according to Kristi Gannon, one of 42 full-time staff

> veterinarians.

>

> The cost of treating a dog can range from about USD 100, for antibiotic

> protection, to as much as USD 6000, if pneumonia develops, Dr. Nieman

> said.

> Owners whose pets got sick at Best Friends paid expenses themselves, the

> doctor said, because the illness was "not caused by the kennel; it's

> caused

> by the kenneling of patients."

>

> Kennel owners who have heard about the canine flu outbreak are alarmed by

> the news, in part because their businesses rely on a reputation for dog

> safety.

>

> Karen Montgomery, manager of Canine Companions, a Pleasantville day care

> and boarding facility that has not had any cases of the illness,

> immediately began calling regular clients to warn them. One owner, she

> said, came to remove a dog from the premises. "I'm passing out the New

> York

> State advisory to all our clients to give them a heads up," Ms. Montgomery

> said, adding that "dog owners are concerned and have been asking about

> getting a vaccine for the disease."

>

> Scott Berry, 40, who left his German shepherd, Hannah, at the new Best

> Friends facility in White Plains last week [3rd week September 2005], was

> unnerved by the thought that she could contract a virus. An engineer from

> Colorado Springs who is in Westchester on business, Mr. Berry said that he

> had never boarded his dog before and that, with this current scare, he

> might never do so again. That is not good news for kennels like Best

> Friends Pet Care.

>

> After the Chestnut Ridge location is decontaminated, "we're optimistic we

> won't see the virus again in that facility," Dr. Nieman said. "But that's

> just optimism."

>

> [byline: Carin Rubenstein Ossining]

>

> --

> ProMED-mail

> <promed@promedmail.org>

>

> [This article reports that this disease mimics Kennel Cough, which has

> probably resulted in under reporting. Some estimates indicated that as

> many

> as 10 000 dogs may have been affected or died, but because of lack of

> reporting requirements, the actual numbers may be less or more. At the

> moment, no one knows, but, certainly, veterinarians are hoping for a

> vaccine soon. - Mod.TG]

>

> [see also:

> Influenza, canine - USA (multistate) 20050923.2811

> 2004

> ----

> Undiagnosed illness, canine - USA (FL)(02) 20040730.2081

> Undiagnosed illness, canine - USA (FL) 20040701.1753]

> .............tg/msp/dk

>

>

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[galty]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Dr. Brad Fenwick, 540-231-6077; fenwick@vt.edu

CANINE FLU STORY OVERHYPED BY MEDIA, EXPERT SAYS

Blacksburg, VA (September 29, 2005)—An internationally recognized expert on infectious diseases in greyhounds says recent media reports of a canine flu epidemic have “greatly inflated the significance” of the scientific paper on which the reports were based.

Dr. Brad Fenwick, Vice President for Research and Professor of Infectious Disease Pathobiology at Virginia Tech, has specialized in the study of disease in racing greyhounds. In a letter to greyhound tracks and kennel operators, Fenwick said there is no scientific basis for the “hysterical tone” of recent media reports. Fenwick wrote the letter at the request of the American Greyhound Council (AGC), an organization formed by track and kennel operators to promote greyhound health and welfare.

“There is no killer dog flu crisis in greyhound racing,” Fenwick wrote, “or outside it, for that matter.”

The media reports were triggered by a research paper published in the current issue of Science Magazine suggesting that a respiratory disease observed in greyhounds at several tracks since 2004 is closely related to the equine flu virus. The paper also raised the possibility that the canine flu could be transmitted to humans because it had crossed species from horses to dogs.

Contagious respiratory diseases among dogs are nothing new, and Fenwick said this one appears no more serious than common kennel cough. The vast majority of greyhounds exposed to the canine flu recover completely, with many not even requiring treatment, he said. Evidence shows that most of the dogs that become infected with influenza do not show any symptoms. Where rare fatalities have occurred, they have been due to bacterial complications arising from failure to treat soon enough or with the correct antibiotics.

What disturbed him most about the media reports, Fenwick said, was the suggestion that this canine flu could be transmitted from dogs to humans and that greyhounds or the industry are somehow responsible for the outbreak. It is possible, he said, that this virus was circulating undetected in the pet dog population for some time and only became recognized when it caused problems in the greyhounds, since even a mild respiratory disease is of special concern in a canine athlete.

“There has never been a single recorded instance where the disease was transmitted from a horse to a human,” he noted, “so it is irresponsible in the extreme to suggest that this should be a cause for concern among the general public or pet dog owners.”

Fenwick advised industry members to take several steps to prevent the spread of any contagious diseases among greyhounds, including prompt consultation with qualified veterinarians, the use of appropriate antibiotics, more frequent checking and observation of dogs, extra cleaning and sanitation measures, and isolation of ill dogs away from healthy animals.

 

[BeeJay]

There is an article in this weeks Sept 30th Dog World page 2 on this canine virus. A UK vet is trying to find out if one of his patients has died of it.

If the dog has then it's in the UK. If it has occured here then they don't know whether it's been brought in or has mutated over here.