Many families are hitting the road across the Northwest, crisscrossing the Cascades and traveling up and down I-5 in search of family, turkey and pumpkin pie.
And many will have Fido there, wedged in the back between the suitcases and the cooler holding the green bean casserole.
But Northwest veterinarians are suggesting leaving your dog at home this year: Don鈥檛 bring them to family gatherings with other dogs, and maybe don鈥檛 drop them at the kennel, either.
A has been making dogs sick across the Northwest and nation.
It starts like a mild case of kennel cough, then develops into pneumonia-like symptoms. . And scientific labs aren鈥檛 sure what they鈥檙e dealing with yet 鈥� bacteria? A virus? Something else?
鈥淭he scary part I think is just not knowing what this disease is really,鈥� Minden Buswell, a veterinary epidemiologist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not responsive to antibiotics right now, the kind of antibiotics that we鈥檙e using. We need to know what this disease is, and how best to treat it 鈥� knowing that our current treatments aren鈥檛 working.鈥�
Buswell said it鈥檚 best to keep your dogs away from congregation areas, like communal dog bowls and dog parks and kennels.
鈥淚 was talking to some boarding facilities and recommending that they really up their biosecurity,鈥� she said.
She recommended more cleaning, all dogs having up-to-date vaccines and minimizing the time that dogs interact with each other.
鈥淚f you can avoid congregations of animals, that would be the best at this time,鈥� Buswell said.
Pandemic for dogs
A bit of a drive south, Kurt Williams is the director of Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at the Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine at Oregon State University.
鈥淚 think what鈥檚 interesting to me 鈥� not that we need it coming out of COVID 鈥� but the reminder that the diseases are dynamic,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a reminder of why the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory is here. And that is to address the known and unknown diseases that can crop up at any time.鈥�
Williams said this shouldn鈥檛 be underestimated, it is a sort of a COVID-like-pandemic for dogs 鈥� a devastating disease.
The total number of dogs that have been affected is largely unknown, but hundreds of suspected cases are cropping up in Oregon, especially in the Portland area and Willamette Valley. There are more suspected cases across the country, but currently, none reported in Washington.
Oregon鈥檚 Department of Agriculture says it was aware of other cases including in New Hampshire and nearby northeastern states, Colorado, Indiana, Illinois, California and the Northwest.
The cases reported to ODA appear to primarily fall within three general categories, the agency says:
- Chronic mild-moderate inflammation of the trachea and lungs with a prolonged duration (six to eight weeks or longer) that is minimally or not responsive to antibiotics;
- Chronic pneumonia that is minimally or not responsive to antibiotics; and
- Acute pneumonia that rapidly becomes severe and often leads to poor outcomes in as little as 24 to 36 hours.
ODA officials say they are working with reporting veterinarians and specialists at OSU鈥檚 Carlson College of Veterinary Medicine, the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the USDA鈥檚 National Veterinary Services Laboratory to find out what鈥檚 causing these cases.
Vulnerable to misinformation
Williams, at OSU鈥檚 lab, said he鈥檚 worried about people getting misinformation on this disease, since sick dogs are an emotional topic. He said he鈥檚 been contacted already by many people who have misinformation about the subject.
鈥淏ecause of the emotional ties we have to dogs, people (can) become emotionally paralyzed in this process,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope they鈥檒l pursue answers to this disease by relying on reputable journalistic sources and scientific experts that are speaking to those experts.鈥�
Williams encourages people who are having trouble with their pet鈥檚 health to call the vet. But, he said in the unfortunate case that someone鈥檚 dog dies of the disease 鈥� Williams hopes the owner may consider donating the body to science.
鈥淚 do think it鈥檚 going to be very important to study animals that died of this entity to link what we see, happening in the tissues of the animals that we think we might have this disease,鈥� he said, 鈥淟inking that back to how the animal became sick and how that animal became sick clinically 鈥� and we don鈥檛 have that yet.鈥�
Both Williams and Buswell stressed that so far no known cases have transferred to humans.
