Needle Nose Notes

VoI 10, issue 6

Happy “Howl”oween!

October, 2005

CANINE INFLUENZA

By Carole Oglesbee

The Needle Nose Crew phone line and e-mail inbox have been alive with messages from everywhere, wanting to know if we have heard about the new canine flu that is being talked about by every news agency in the country. We certainly do know about this “new” disease and have since last May. At that time many of the Greyhound racing tracks and kennels around the country went into quarantine because of the outbreak. Once the quarantines were lifted and Greyhounds began to move into rescue again, there was a terrible log jam of Greyhounds. When there are approximately 80 Greyhounds a day coming off the tracks in this country, having 10 to 20 percent of the tracks shut down for a couple of months can only spell a crisis. Of course, most of our media sources didn’t report much about the situation then as it only affected racing Greyhounds, not the general “pet population”.

Now, six months later, this new strain of flu has hit the average household, and the news media is right there to hype the situation. Don’t get us wrong. This disease can be deadly, and there is no vaccine for it as yet. However, there is a course of treatment should your canines come down with this flu. As with any disease, the frail, the very young and the elderly will have the roughest time. All will be endangered if not treated properly. So, if your beloved canines begin to show symptoms of illness, please take them to your veterinarian immediately.

In addition to the article presented in this issue of the Needle Nose Notes, we urge you all to log onto snopes.com. Search for canine flu and read the information presented. In the meantime, please don’t panic. Enjoy your lives with your canines, continue with your daily routines and keep an eye out for any sign of distress in all of your pets.

Contagious equine flu virus infecting dogs across U.S. is isolated by Cornell researchers

By Krishna Ramanujan

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A Cornell University virologist has isolated a highly contagious equine flu virus that is spreading a sometimes-fatal respiratory flu among dogs, and is responsible for a major dog-flu outbreak in New York state. There is no evidence that the virus could infect people.

According to a paper published in the Sept. 26 issue of Science Express, the online version of Science magazine, this is the first time an equine flu virus has been found to jump species.

The equine influenza virus, H3N8, was isolated at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine after University of Florida researchers sent fluid and tissue samples from greyhound race dogs that had died from a respiratory illness at a Florida racetrack in January 2004.

"Of all animals, dogs have the most intimate contact with humans on a daily basis, so the potential for human infection has to be in the back of our minds," said Ed Dubovi, director of the virology center at Cornell's Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, who isolated the virus from the University of Florida samples.

Still, he added, there is no evidence of the virus jumping to humans, and there is no expectation of it doing so. It is possible the equine virus has been infecting dogs for some time, although the symptoms are very similar and could be mistaken for common "kennel cough," a bacterial disease related to pertussis (whooping cough) in children. Nevertheless, the paper cautions that the newly discovered flu virus must be closely monitored.

With close to 100 percent of dogs exposed to the virus becoming infected and about 80 percent of infected dogs showing symptoms, the flu could be spreading throughout the country. It was originally documented in greyhounds at tracks and kennels but now is infecting all breeds of dogs. Ongoing testing is being done to track the spread of the virus to different regions of the country.

"Right now, we have a major outbreak of this disease in all breeds of dogs in New York state," said Dubovi, noting that symptoms can include high fever and a respiratory infection that lasts a few weeks, although 1 to 5 percent die from related hemorrhagic pneumonia. From January to May 2005, outbreaks occurred at 20 racetracks in 10 states (Florida, Texas, Arkansas, Arizona, West Virginia, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Rhode Island and Massachusetts), according to the paper.

"This infection will become a major concern for all dog owners, since 100 percent of dogs are susceptible to infection by this virus ," said Dubovi. "With 50 million pet dogs in this country, even if you have 1 percent mortality, this is going to result in a number of dogs dying from it."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta sequenced the virus' entire genome and found all the segments were from the equine virus. This is unusual, because flu viruses will often swap genetic material with other flu viruses when they jump species. For a new virus to enter another species it must overcome a number of barriers, such as finding a cell receptor to bind to in order to enter the cell and to reproduce sufficiently in the new host.

"There are probably many examples of viruses jumping species, but then it becomes a dead-end issue," said Dubovi. Researchers have long known that equine flu was capable of growing in dogs, since scientists experimenting with equine influenza use cell lines from canine kidney cells.

When Dubovi first received the University of Florida samples, he and his colleagues isolated a virus and determined that it was an influenza not typically found in dogs. The next step was to test to see if it was an avian flu virus, like the virulent H5N1 that has jumped from birds to humans over the last few years. A highly sensitive test -- called a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) that amplifies and detects small amounts of DNA or RNA in a blood or tissue sample -- ruled out avian flu strains H5 and H7.

The isolate was then sent to the CDC where Ruben Donis, Cornell Ph.D. '87, one of Dubovi's former graduate students and currently chief of molecular genetics for the influenza branch, found that it tested positive for equine influenza virus. Donis also ruled out the possibility that the sample had been contaminated with equine virus from another source.

The study by lead author, Cynda Crawford, an immunologist at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, was funded by the State of Florida's Division of Parimutuel Wagering in response to ongoing respiratory problems in racing greyhounds.

The preceding article was reprinted from Cornell News Service/Chronicle Online cunews@cornell.edu.

The following information is from a media briefing session conducted by Tom Skinner, Public Affairs Specialist with the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov).

Dr. Crawford states,

“... I am taking my two Pekinese to be groomed next week to a groomer that sees many dogs during the day. I will continue to board my pet greyhound at boarding kennels when I need to.

I will continue to show dogs at the American Kennel Club sanctioned shows.

So I, myself, will continue on with my routine activities with my own dogs. They will go to dog parks. They will participate in other community activities with other dogs.

However, I think common sense is a good term to use in that dog owners who have a dog with a respiratory infection or that has just recovered from a respiratory infection should probably keep the dog at home until a couple of weeks have elapsed, number one, for that dog to recover fully, and number two, in case that dog has an infectious disease, whether it's flu or not, that could be communicable to other dogs that it is around.

I think veterinarians have become aware of canine influenza virus and have continued their practices of taking precautions with communicable diseases, and most likely upgraded their precautions in addition.

But as far as your average dog owner, I think they should continue to walk their dog on the street, do all the other dog-related activities, but just use common sense about taking your dog out in public, if it has had, or has recently recovered from a respiratory infection.”

	Jim White and Lauren St. Claire for their loss of the 14-1/2 year old Osita
	Susan Beever for her loss of the ever determined Gotcha
	Mike and Susie Morganstern for the early loss of Sophia
	Gayla Hannah for the accidental loss of Aja
	Sharon Fordham for her loss of the fun loving Shelby
	Alan and Alicia for the loss of the lovable Pawnee
	Mike Gallas for his loss of the crazy Miss Soffi
	Jane Ulrich for her loss of sweet Patrick