11/30/2023
An update on the canine respiratory illness:
For anyone following the story, you may have heard that an unusual canine respiratory illness is now being seen across the country.
Here is an excerpt from a news report by the global center for health security:
Scientists at the University of New Hampshire may have identified a pathogen that has sickened possibly thousands of dogs and killed some of them across the country.
The mysterious respiratory illness that may have sickened scores of dogs across the country could be caused by a new type of bacterial infection that may be very good at evading the canine immune system, researchers say. Some dogs have died from the illness that starts with a cough that can last for weeks, runny eyes and sneezing.
In a development that might help shed light on the illness, which has affected a range of dog breeds, researchers at the University of New Hampshire’s Veterinary Diagnosis Laboratory and the Hubbard Center for Genome Studies told NBC News they have identified a pathogen that might be what’s making pets sick.
Through a genetic sequencing of samples from an initial group of 30 dogs from New Hampshire who were infected last year and then an additional 40 from Rhode Island and Massachusetts who got sick this year, the researchers say they have discovered a previously unknown germ.
The pathogen is “a funky bacterium,” said Dr. David Needle, pathology section chief at the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at the University of New Hampshire. “It’s smaller than a normal bacterium in its size and in the size of its genome. Long story short, it’s a weird bacterium that can be tough to find and sequence.”
Milford Veterinary Hospital, together with the Veterinary Emergency of Manchester, initially contacted UNH and provided the first test samples when we started seeing unusual respiratory cases last year.
Thankfully we are not seeing many cases in our area anymore, but it still pays to use caution, especially when traveling with your dogs or considering dog parks, boarding, daycare, etc..
Our thanks to Dr. Needle and UNH for working hard to solve this mystery!
