Mystery Dog Illness

You may have heard of a new dog illness causing respiratory symptoms. I’d like to give you the current information about this disease, and what steps you may want to take.

There is much uncertainty about the disease, which makes diagnosis and treatment difficult. This uncertainty also does not allow us to nail down just how many cases exist around the country. But it seems to be concentrated in a few states that do NOT include Ohio but do include Pennsylvania and Indiana.

The symptoms are classic upper respiratory symptoms of other canine diseases (sneezing, eye discharge, cough, not eating) but the real scare is that a few dogs have died from pneumonia within 2 days of the first symptoms. Also, symptoms can last for a few weeks. Standard antibiotic treatments have not been effective.

Some vets and researchers believe this disease is just a new manifestation of the common bacteria and viruses we have dealt with in the past 20 years. Their reasoning includes the fact that fewer dogs have immunity since COVID, because vaccination rates were down and fewer dogs were exposed to each other at dog parks.

Other experts believe this is a new disease. One key piece of information was found in lab testing, that the organism causing the disease seems to be bacterial. This can help us if the correct antibiotic is found, but can be a negative thing in that if a vaccine against the disease is developed, these anti-bacterial vaccines are often less effective than anti-virus vaccines.

What can you do?

1. Vaccinate your dog against kennel cough. The vaccine will not be protective against a new disease, but vaccination is still helpful because if your dog acquires a common respiratory disease, the new disease might attack after his immune system is damaged. The best vaccine is a 3-way nasal vaccine, which is protective after a single dose. Call us to make an appointment with our wellness clinic. Note that vaccines take 3 to 7 days to start being effective, so it is not advised to give the vaccine the same day as being exposed to other dogs.

2. If your dog has the symptoms mentioned, do not let him contact other dogs, and visit your full-service veterinarian for testing and treatment. Make sure you call the vet first to warn them.

3. Do not take your dog to the dog park or other areas where multiple family dogs congregate. We at AlterClinic Animal Care understand you may not want to bring him to our clinic. However, I would mention the disease has not yet appeared in Ohio and we make sure dogs do not get into contact with each other as they move through the surgery day. The choice is yours for your own pet. We take precautions against this type of outbreak and are working to ensure your pet is safe.

Brian Wennerstrom, DVM

December 2023