An unusually large number of dogs with symptoms of pneumonia flocked to practices in at least seven US states. Several died of respiratory distress.
A mysterious illness is worrying dog owners in the United States. Hundreds of animals in at least seven US states – including Colorado, Rhode Island, Oregon, New Hampshire and Massachusetts – fell ill with severe coughing, sometimes followed by shortness of breath. This type of canine pneumonia, which is highly resistant to treatment, has already killed several of the affected animals, reports the Washington Post.
Veterinarians registered the first cases in October. An unusually large number of dogs with the same symptoms flocked to the practices. They generally start with a simple cough that progresses to pneumonia before progressing to severe shortness of breath.
Many questions
Analytical laboratories are mobilizing to find a cure while the disease is resistant to antibiotics. The owner of Thunder, a hat ski who died within two weeks of a sudden cough, expressed her sadness on BFMTV. “I want to testify: Our dogs are getting sick,” she cried through tears, explaining that she wanted to make “meaning” of her dog’s sudden death, something two weeks of treatment and a vet bill of more than $16,900 couldn’t ensure.
“We don’t know the cause and can’t say for sure how it’s transmitted,” said Lindsey Ganzer, a veterinarian in Colorado whose center has received at least 35 cases since Oct. 20, four of whom have died. The vet describes the symptoms as fever, cough, loss of appetite, runny eyes and nose, sneezing and difficulty breathing.
Many questions remain unanswered about this strange disease, such as its mortality rate and its possible contagiousness to humans. However, scientists recommend that owners avoid contact between dogs, even if the potential pathogen has been detected in nasal and throat swabs, which dogs can transmit through play. “I would strongly recommend that people avoid boarding kennels, dog daycares and anything that could lead to a large number of dogs in one room,” warned Lindsey Ganzer, quoted by The Washington Post.