02/12/2023
New Canine Respiratory Disease?
You may have seen reports in the news recently about a “mysterious” new canine respiratory disease. So far, it seems to be localized and not spread throughout the country. Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC), also commonly called kennel cough, is nothing new, and these dogs seem to have many of the classic signs associated with it (cough, snotty nose, fever, etc.).
The difference that I am hearing (anecdotally) is that some of these dogs progress very rapidly, even to severe pneumonia and death, or seem to have no response to treatment with a lingering cough for weeks to months. I myself had several of the extended cough cases in the last year, all of which recovered.
The question to be answered still is, is this a new disease, a known disease that has changed to become more problematic, or has this been going on for a long time and it just hasn’t made the news? Veterinary labs throughout the country are working to get that answer.
In the meantime, keep your dogs up-to-date on respiratory vaccines, avoid contact with dogs of unknown vaccination or health status, and keep them otherwise healthy.
For more information:
https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/canine-infectious-respiratory-disease-complex-kennel-cough?_ga=2.103069632.1118781198.1701527253-839325027.1701527253
https://colsa.unh.edu/new-hampshire-veterinary-diagnostic-laboratory/canine-respiratory-outbreak?_ga=2.110558149.1118781198.1701527253-839325027.1701527253
