ProMed Mail just reported on the return of canine flu to Ontario.

The problem is, it’s not true. (I guess that’s not a problem. It’s good that it’s not here.)

Today’s ProMed post on the subject references a news article (which appears to have been removed since) that just seems to be a direct copy of a mainstream media report from January 2018. To my knowledge, we have not had any canine flu activity in Canada since October 2018 (and since canine flu is reportable in Ontario – to both public health and the agriculture ministry – it’s unlikely we wouldn’t know about any diagnosed infections).

Influenza in dogs bound to come back to Ontario, particularly given the massive number of dogs that are imported every year from high-risk areas like Asia, but as far as we know it’s not present here at the moment.

For the full story of our previous outbreak and successful control efforts, check out the recently published report on canine influenza in Ontario (Weese et al. EID 2019).