11/21/2023
https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/20/us/mystery-dog-illness-spreading/index.html
As many of you may have seen in the national news, there is an emerging breakout of Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC, what many people call "kennel cough").
Some dogs simply get a long duration of cough (sometimes 8 weeks)and then recover. But some develop more serious illness, such as pneumonia. There is no specific etiology that has been identified at this time, but veterinarians everywhere are working on it and we hope there will be answers soon.
In the meantime, to help avoid your dog being exposed, we would recommend:
1. Avoid public areas where dogs congregate. Reduce the change of exposure until this is better understood.
2. If friends and family are visiting with their pets, be sure to ask them if their dogs are up to date on their respiratory vaccines, if they are having any symptoms of illness, and if their dogs could potentially have been exposed to other sick dogs (boarding, day care, grooming, etc)
3. Make sure your dog is vaccinated for respiratory disease. While this won’t completely prevent disease, it may limit the severity.
4. If your dog shows clinical signs including lethargy, cough, poor appetite, difficulty breathing, you should contact us immediately and seek medical care. And be sure to keep them out of day care or boarding.
Be safe, enjoy your holidays, and be sure to call us if you need us!
From New Hampshire to Oregon, researchers are trying to figure out what’s causing an infectious respiratory disease among dogs that has turned deadly in rare cases.
