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.
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/05130 ... ted_States.
html
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."
Many 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.
Folks, this is one of the many new problems we are seeing from feeding raw
meat to dogs. Please do not do it.