16 July 2015 (03:56 UTC-07 Tango 01)/25 Tir 1394/29 Ramadan 1436/01 Gui-Wie (6th month) 4713
“This flu is much more contagious. It came from Chicago and it’s the same kind of epidemic that they dealt with up there.”– Duffy Jones, Peachtree Hills Animal Hospital, Georgia
Canine influenza has hit 30 U.S. states from the mid-west to the southeast.
At least six dogs in Illinois have died, with more than 1-thousand confirmed cases since April!
The University Of Georgia‘s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory confirms 88 cases of dog flu in the Atlanta metro area. Dog parks and animal shelters around the state are being closed down to prevent more infections.
North Carolina veterinarians report their first cases, and warn pet owners to wash their clothes: “Dog flu germs can stay on your clothes for 24 hours, so if you think you may have come in contact with a dog that has dog flu or you’ve been around coughing animals or animals you don’t know, it may be a good idea to change clothes out, wash your hands, all those things to decontaminate yourself.”-Andy Roark, Cleveland Park Animal Hospital
Veterinarians in Indiana say this dog flu (first seen in Illinois) is a new stealth type of influenza: “The best preventative is complete avoidance of other dogs because the unfortunate thing about this particular virus is it’s most contagious before they actually start showing clinical signs. So they’re most contagious that two-to-four-day window before they start coughing, before their nose starts running.”-Arielle Pechette
A routine health screening in Minnesota confirmed the new stealth virus is a type of H3N2 influenza. The dog that was tested had no symptoms! The dog had been recently adopted by a family of humans who had their veterinarian conduct a health screening of their new pooch. The blood test came back positive for H3N2. News reports say some animal shelters are now refusing to take in new dogs.
Currently there is only one dog flu vaccine, designed for H3N8, not H3N2.
“…influenza viruses are constantly changing and it is possible for a virus to change so that it could infect humans and spread easily between humans. Human infections with new influenza viruses (against which the human population has little immunity) are concerning when they occur. Such viruses could present pandemic influenza threats. For this reason, CDC and its partners are monitoring the canine influenza H3N8 and H3N2 viruses (as well as other animal influenza viruses) closely. In general, canine influenza viruses are considered to pose a low threat to humans.”-U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Rare dog disease….Deadly warning from India!
Operation Jupiter: Anthrax is the zombie disease Lazarus!