by Dan Scott

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

How can you tell if your dog has Canine Influenza? There are several symptoms that may let you know that your dog has been in contact with a dog that has the flu. The two main symptoms are a cough, and a green discharge from the nose. In more severe cases, the dog can also develop a high fever and possibly pneumonia which is the result of a secondary bacterial infection. The cough can last for anywhere from ten to thirty days. The disease is spread from the secretions of an infected dog. A dog can catch the virus from direct contact, contact with a sick dogs secretions, or from toys, collars, leashes and dishes used by an infected dog. Cases of CIV have been reported in 30 states at race tracks, kennels, pet stores and animal shelters. There are three main areas of the country that suffer from this disease more than others. These are New York, southern Florida, and Northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming.

Very recently, a new vaccine to help prevent canine influenza was announced by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health. The vaccine is intended to be given to your dog annually along with other yearly injections. It is designed to reduce the incidence and severity of the disease, and reduce the duration of the cough and length of time that the dog can pass the disease on to others. This is a conditional license for this vaccine, and the vaccine is being monitored by the veterinarians administering the drug. The company is hoping to be issued a full product license within the next year.

Canine influenza, or CIV (Canine Influenza Virus), also known as type A, H3N8 virus, has been an identified infectious disease in dogs since 2004 at a Greyhound race track in Florida. The virus is believed to have been transmitted to the dogs from horses which also used the same race track. Because influenzas had never been know to affect dogs before, the dogs had no natural immunities to the flu so that the flu could travel quickly through the population. The attached link will give you a list of states with confirmed cases as of October 8, 2008.

The CIV is usually not lethal. In the cases that have resulted in death, it was usually because of the development of pneumonia, although pneumonia can be treated with antibiotics. Also, there have not been any cases of canine influenza being transmitted to a human host according to the Centers for Disease Control.

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