As I’ve written about a couple times over the past few days, we seem to have increased canine respiratory disease activity in a few areas of Ontario. The first reports came from Orangeville (incidentally, the town where I worked as a veterinarian in general practice when I first graduated), based on information provided by
Canine respiratory disease precautions
If you’re one of the many (many) people asking about what to do in the midst of a canine respiratory disease outbreak, or someone who just wants to know what to do to reduce everyday risk of CIRDC, here are some basic pointers:
The microbes that cause respiratory disease in dogs are primarily
Increased canine infectious respiratory disease: Ontario
Infectious respiratory disease isn’t exactly rare in dogs. A variety of viruses, bacteria and Mycoplasma can cause what we generically call canine infectious respiratory disease complex (CIRDC, formerly and still commonly called “kennel cough”). We see clusters of disease periodically and hear rumours of larger outbreaks, but usually there’s not a lot of additional information
Yet another influenza in dogs
This latest flu strain probably isn’t as big a deal as some other influenza viruses found in dogs, but it demonstrates that it’s important to monitor influenza in different species and look for changes.
A paper published ahead of print in Emerging Infections Diseases (Lin et al, Dec 2015) describes an H6N1 influenza
Canine flu outbreak in Texas
As canine influenza continues it’s rather gradual, patchwork movement across North America, an outbreak at a greyhound racetrack southeast of Houston highlights some of the concerns about this virus. Canine influenza has been active in the Houston region for some time, causing sporadic infections as well as outbreaks in pet dogs in the community and
From the kennel cough files….
Kennel cough, also (and more properly) referred to as canine infectious respiratory disease complex (CIRDC), has been in the news lately. This condition is a syndrome, not a specific disease, being potentially caused by a range of bacteria, viruses and Mycoplasma, including canine parainfluenza virus, canine influenza virus, canine respiratory herpesvirus, canine adenovirus
Kennel cough and vets
An article from NBCMontana.com describes a kennel cough outbreak in dogs in Bozeman, Montana. It’s a pretty basic article that outlines a rather typical presentation of kennel cough (now largely referred to as canine infectious respiratory disease complex – a respiratory infection that can be caused by a range of viruses, bacteria and Mycoplasma).