By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWe’ve tried a number of different infectious diseases initiatives in the past, aimed at increasing infectious disease education and awareness of both veterinarians and pet owners. Some have worked very well (like this blog), others less so. However, there’s still a lot that can be done. Here’s our latest initiative – whether it flies or… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe latest IDEXX Laboratories maps and case list are below. Canine flu continues to cause problems in some parts of the US, and is spreading in some states. California and Nevada have had active flu for a few months, but it may be abating. New clusters are popping up in other areas, most notably in… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’ve been holding off saying “it’s gone” but based on all the information we have at the moment, there’s no evidence of ongoing canine flu activity in Canada, at least for now. No new cases have been identified in a few weeks and we are now beyond the 28-day recommended quarantine period for all of… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsNo news is good news… at least hopefully. The past week was quite encouraging. No new cases of canine influenza were identified in Ontario. A couple of “inconclusive” results were obtained from dogs in the Northumberland cluster that were previously positive. I approach these as essentially “weak positives,” because it means the test detected viral… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’m slowly catching up so here are last week’s data from IDEXX Laboratories on the canine flu situation in the US. The two main areas of concern remain California and Nevada. The number of new cases dropped quite a bit from the previous week. That’s encouraging, but it can be hard to interpret passive surveillance… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’ve been slow to provide an update, partly because I’ve been sick (not with canine flu) and partly because there’s fortunately less to report. Muskoka We are still testing but it’s pretty low yield. One challenge is the baseline upper respiratory disease activity in the area. There are various viruses and bacteria that cause flu-like… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWindsor-Essex: Things have been quiet there for a while and this seems to be a nice success story. The two flu clusters that were active in January were contained and nothing new has been seen. Muskoka: Good progress has been made. Few new cases have been identified over the past two weeks. One problematic aspect… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsI’m lazy so I’ll use the blog to answer a question that I’m getting a few times a day. Today’s question: how to disinfect a veterinary clinic if there is a concern about canine influenza? The good news is that influenza viruses are pretty wimpy. They’re enveloped viruses, meaning they are covered by a fragile fatty… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsUnited States (data courtesy of IDEXX Laboratories) Canine flu continues to cause problems in the US, particularly the west coast. Northern California (471 cases) and Nevada (207 cases) are the hotbeds. As ever, since these data are from diagnostic laboratory submissions, they probably represent the minority of cases (since most dogs with respiratory tract disease… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsActive canine influenza cases are still known to be present in two regions in Ontario. Muskoka A small number of dogs from the initial cluster of cases in the Orillia/Bracebridge/Gravenhurst region are still shedding the virus, as expected given this virus can be shed by some dogs for a few weeks. The dogs that made… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationCanine influenza continues to cause problems in Ontario. The central Ontario (Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Orillia) clusters continue to be monitored, with new positives that were expected based on known contact with infected dogs. Whether these clusters have been contained (or are containable) remains to be seen. Testing and contact tracing continues. As mentioned previously, there was… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe third cluster of canine flu in Ontario is a problem. While the first two, in the Windsor-Essex area, were relatively small and have been contained, the recent, ongoing central Ontario cluster is larger and more widespread. There are over 20 confirmed cases to date. However, it is very likely that the actual number is… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWhile we had hoped that control of the two recent clusters of H3N2 canine influenza in Windsor-Essex, Ontario, meant that the province was again free of that virus, another cluster of infections has been identified, this time in Orillia, Ontario. Investigation is ongoing so the number of infected dogs is currently unclear, but as always,… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsThe table below has the latest H3N2 canine influenza numbers from IDEXX Laboratories. Some of the highlights include: Numbers continue to increase. Northern California and Nevada are the hotbeds, with northern CA cases increasing to 343 and Nevada 151. As always, these are just the tested cases, and they presumably represent a small minority of… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsWhile we have hopefully been able to contain our two recent H3N2 canine influenza clusters in Canada (more on that later), this virus continues to spread in some parts of the US, particularly Northern California and Nevada. Since the last update from IDEXX Laboratories on February 2nd, they have identified another 164 cases in the… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsAnother case of canine influenza has been identified in Windsor-Essex, Ontario. Investigation of the source is underway and measures are in place to try to contain the virus. As with the other recent cluster of H3N2 canine influenza cases in that region, there is concern about entry of this virus into a naive canine population… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsCanine flu has been a hot topic around here, but it’s a bigger deal in the US where the range of the disease is much larger. IDEXX Laboratories has released an update on their canine flu testing results. California has been getting a lot of attention over the past couple of weeks, but extensive flu… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationThe recent H3N2 canine influenza cluster in Ontario is hopefully still contained. Some infected dogs continue to shed the virus, but a good thing about flu is that there’s no long-term carrier state. Dogs will typically shed the virus for a couple of weeks, but then it should be gone. Accordingly, if the affected dogs… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsAfter identification of H3N2 canine influenza in two recently imported dogs in Ontario, testing of a group of in-contact dogs was performed. Five more infected dogs were identified, including both dogs that developed signs of influenza and those that stayed healthy. Infection of these animals was expected since these dogs were in close contact with… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in Dogs,VaccinationNot surprisingly, “should my dog be vaccinated against flu?” has been a very common question over the past few days. Here’s my take on vaccination of Canadian dogs, with the assumption that the recent H3N2 flu cluster in southwestern Ontario has been contained (something that is likely but is still to be determined). Who should… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsNow that canine flu has been identified in Ontario, I’ve been inundated with questions, including “what is the risk to people?” It’s often tough getting the right message across, since there are some potential human health risks, but they are very low. The fact that we can’t say “it’s not a concern” sometimes gets taken… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in DogsH3N2 canine influenza has been identified in two dogs in Essex County, Ontario. The dogs were imported from Asia (via the US) in late December and were showing signs of respiratory disease the following day when they were examined by a veterinarian. A small number of dogs that had close contact with the affected dogs… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsA paper in December’s Emerging Infectious Diseases (Marinova-Petkova et al. 2016) follows up on last year’s outbreak of avian influenza (H7N2) in cats in a New York shelter and one associated human infection (the findings were also summarized in a post from earlier this year). This paper describes investigation of the virus from the infected… Continue Reading
By Scott Weese on Posted in CatsThe 2016 outbreak of H7N2 influenza in cats in a New York shelter, with transmission to one veterinarian, got a lot of attention, including a few posts on our blog. H7N2 influenza is known to have been circulating in birds in the US since at least 1994, and two human infections had been identified (a… Continue Reading
