A mysterious disease is spreading among dogs in the United States -- and veterinarians are racing to uncover what's causing the illness that has already resulted in several deaths.
To date, cases of the mysterious illness have been reported in Oregon, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, Washington, Idaho, California, the Northeast and more -- and with holiday travel ramping up, experts are concerned about it infecting pets in other states.
While testing for common respiratory illness have not yet revealed the culprit, experts with Michigan State University's College of Veterinary Medicine said veterinarians and veterinary diagnostic laboratories across the country are working with state and federal agencies to perform additional testing for less common, and even potentially novel, pathogen.
“The only way to know, for sure, what’s causing illness in a particular animal or circulating in a group of animals, is to perform diagnostic testing,” explains Roger Maes, virology section chief at the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
The illness begins as a cough, experts say, which can last for several weeks or even months. Even after typical treatment with antibiotics, cough suppressants and other medications, the illness can rapidly progress into labored breathing and serious secondary infections like pneumonia.
A typical respiratory illness causes symptoms such as cough, runny nose, fever, loss of appetite, and lethargy, but in recent reports of the more severe, yet-unknown illness, dogs are coming down with all the normal symptoms, plus a persistent, long-term cough and difficulty breathing.
The affected dogs are thought to have picked up the mystery illness by being in close contact with other dogs, which could've occurred at:
• day care facilities
• dog parks
• groomers
• boarding kennels
MSU said pet owners can help protect their dogs by keeping them away from any of the above areas. Experts acknowledge that with the start of the holidays, boarding may be unavoidable for those traveling, which makes it essential for pet owners to stay on top of their dog's vaccinations.
"One of the most important things owners can do to keep pets safe is to keep their pets’ vaccinations current," experts at MSU said. "Vaccines are available for the most common infectious agents causing canine infectious respiratory disease (sometimes referred to as kennel cough)."
Until the cause of the current circulating disease is identified, veterinary professional say it's hard to tell if the disease is preventable by vaccination -- but it's worth taking the precaution.
Veterinary professionals at MSU advised pet owners to contact their veterinarian and keep their pet quarantined at home if they suspect their dog is sick.
Doctors say diagnostic testing should be considered at the onset of illness so common causes of disease can either be identified or ruled out and to single out patients who may require additional testing.
“Although most cases of canine infectious respiratory disease are self-limiting with proper management, some dogs can develop a more serious form of illness, especially when bacterial pathogens are involved,” says Rinosh Mani, bacteriology section chief at the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. “It is important to do diagnostic testing as early as possible so that proper antibiotic therapy can be initiated.”
Testing is available at the MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which was recently selected as the implementing partner for the United States Department of Agriculture’s new Unusual Morbidity/Mortality Event program.
The program was established to "chase down diagnoses when initial diagnostic tests fail to identify a cause for significant illness or deaths in animals," MSU added.
The program is currently supporting efforts across the country to identify a cause for dogs affected with the unknown respiratory disease.