"Doggie flu" hitting many shelters and fosters...

[lemonie]

I wanted to give a heads up and also hopefully get some answers to the epidemic hitting several shelthers and foster homes. Dogs who come in healthy, current on Bordotella (kennel cough vaccine) and otherwise doing well are catching and spreading this fast. Even the well-cared-for family pets in the foster homes are catching this virus. Vets have tried both types of kennel cough vaccine and different anti-biotics to no avail. X-rays usually show infection and inflammation and bloodwork shows low oxygen from low aspirations and heightened white cell count.
Symptoms:
runney nose with greenish/white, discharge, sneezing, light coughing that grows to hacking, difficulty breathing, poor appetite but normal fluid intake and bowel movements. Also tends to have discharge from eyes.

We have had to begin putting animals down for this because they are suffering and we have found no cure. If your shelter has similar issues and has begun making progress, please post so we can begin saving these lives.

[fairlight]

And where is this coming from?...is it air borne or from other dogs? Also...is there an incubation period?

[lemonie]

We are not sure where it is coming from, but believe it is airborn because even if the animals have no contact, they are catching it. All animals that come in are in a 3-10 day isolation, but its hard to really keep them seperated very well with the little amount of space most places have. We usually start noticing symptoms within a week or so. There are some, but few animals who have not gotten it for no apparent reason.