When Dogs Get the Flu

So your pup is sneezing and wheezing.

And then you read about the latest threat -- something to add to worries about mad cow disease, West Nile and the avian flu -- and you're sure that your dear dog has canine influenza, or "the dog flu."

Last month, Dr. Matt McDaniel, a veterinarian at Sand Creek Animal Hospital in Colonie, N.Y., was taking eight or nine phone calls a day from worried clients who'd read or heard about the virus. At that time, it seemed there was a lot about the subject in the media. More hype, he says, than may have been necessary.

It's believed that canine influenza started, of all places, in horses and then mutated to racing greyhounds in Florida sometime last year.

In April, veterinarians at Cornell University discovered the flu in the general pet population. Since then, labs at Cornell have confirmed cases of the dog flu in 14 states (including New York) and Washington, D.C.

But McDaniel, noting that cases have not been seen upstate yet and most have been in New York City, has spent a lot of time trying to calm nerves. Despite the concerns, he's only seen one patient that he thought could have it. But when the blood tests came back, they didn't reveal dog flu.

"Right now there's a lot more publicity and hype in the media about this than there is risk," he says.

Symptoms of the disease are similar to kennel cough, a common dog ailment that can spread easily when canines are in close quarters, like boarding kennels or grooming facilities.

And it's as contagious.

Though chances of your dog contracting the disease if exposed to it are about 100 percent, less than 5 percent of dogs typically die from it. And death, much like with the human flu, is more likely when the patients are very young, elderly or have weak immune systems, says Dr. Kate Heatherton, a veterinarian at Upstate Animal Medical Center in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

"Most other animals are going to pull through just fine," she says.

Signs of canine influenza include coughing for 10 to 21 days, nasal discharge and fever. And McDaniel says a higher fever and green rather than clear nasal discharge distinguish flu from kennel cough.

There is no vaccine yet, though researchers at both Cornell and the University of Florida's veterinary schools are working with companies to develop one.

Veterinary clinics will be packed with patients when the disease spreads to the region, Heatherton says, and it's only a matter of time until it does.

The labs at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine have tested 255 blood and tissue samples from dogs in New York. Of those, 77 samples (30 percent) tested positive for canine influenza, making New York state second to Florida in the number of confirmed cases.

Canine influenza is a virus, so there's no treatment. But monitoring by a veterinarian is recommended so the dog doesn't develop a secondary illness such as pneumonia or become dehydrated.

Because dog flu is so contagious, areas where dogs gather could be hotbeds for the disease once it arrives.

But both McDaniel and Heatherton say that shouldn't keep people from boarding their pets, taking them to dog parks or having them groomed.

"There's a lot of paranoia, and a lot of concern about it," McDaniel says. "But it's not, so far, panned out."