It's important to pay attention to your dog's health and know what signals indicate serious problems. Recent scares about animal-related illnesses have caused concern about various types of flu that may be transmittable to humans. Canine influenza is not known to be zoonotic (able to affect humans), but it can develop into a very serious condition for your dog. If you know what to look for you can catch the disease early, which is key to getting the most favorable treatment.
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Earliest Record of Canine Influenza
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Canine influenza is a relatively new form of influenza. It was first recognized on a dog racing track in Florida in 2004. Once identified it spread quickly from one track to the next across the country. The first case of canine influenza in the pet population was officially identified a year later, in 2005. Since that time it has become a major illness, especially in areas where many dogs are kept in close confinement, such as boarding kennels, pet stores, shelters and even veterinary clinics.
Signs and Symptoms
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In some cases a dog may not show any signs of illness at all; 20 percent of all animals do not exhibit the signs of canine influenza. This makes the disease easier to transmit because healthy-looking animals are admitted into care facilities. Other animals can show signs ranging from very mild to severe. Mild cases have a low fever accompanied by nasal discharge and a cough lasting as long as three weeks. More severe symptoms include a high fever, difficulty breathing and increased rate of respiration.
Treatment
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Any sign of illness should be reported to your veterinarian. Mild cases are usually treated simply with extra care to keep the dog rested and comfortable. Serious cases may require IV fluids to keep the dog hydrated, antibiotics and confinement. Treatment of canine influenza is usually very successful, although, as with the human flu, more severe cases can develop pneumonia, creating a more serious and threatening condition.
How It Spreads
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Canine influenza is an airborne viral infection that does not require direct contact between animals. It is exhaled when an infected animal sneezes or coughs. It can also be transmitted, like human influenza, from contact with infected surfaces. Symptoms usually appear within 4 days. However, infected dogs are able to spread the disease for up to 10 days, starting even before the symptoms show up.
Recovery
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It is very important not to panic. Canine influenza is common, and recovery rates are very high. The virus is directly related to equine influenza, which has been identified for more than 40 years without many complications and no cases known to be transmitted to humans, so there is no indication that canine influenza will ever become a human issue.
Prevention
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There is no vaccine for canine influenza at this time. The best prevention is to limit the amount of possible exposure at places such as grooming facilities, dog parks or other confined situations. If you bring a dog home from any place where it has been kept in conditions favorable to canine influenza, keep them separate from your other dogs until the normal incubation period has passed (a week to 10 days). If your dog comes down with symptoms appearing to be canine influenza, immediately isolate it from other dogs in the house and seek veterinary attention immediately.
If you need to board your pet or take it to an area where spread of disease is more likely, ask the facility about any recent outbreaks of canine influenza. Find out if the facility has any precautions in place to isolate potentially contagious animals.
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