Canine Flu Making Local Inroads .... The highly contagious infection jumped from horses to dogs in 2005.
By David Powell, August 30, 2012
An outbreak of canine influenza that has been described as nearing "pandemic" status in sections of southern and central Pennsylvania may have started to appear in Montgomery and Chester Counties, an area veterinarian said Thursday.
Dr. Jennifer Fry of Banfield Pet Hospital in Pottstown said she treated a suspected case of the disease about two weeks ago.
"We are definitely seeing cases of it," Fry said. "I had a six-week old puppy that just lay on the exam table, which is not normal. It's similar to our flu. You just don't feel well at all."
The canine influenza virus, which is also known among epidemiologists as H3N8, had been observed in horses for decades but in 2005 was identified as having jumped to dogs, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
WPMT in York and WGAL in Lancaster reported last week that the veterinarians in the Susquehanna Valley region have seen a recent spike in the number of canine influenza cases coming into their offices.
The highly contagious disease, which manifests in dogs as a cough,...
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