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Fears for US dog flu to spread to Canada
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25 November 2005 Fears for US dog flu to spread to Canada
Dog owners in Canada are becoming increasingly worried about the threat of 'dog flu' spreading across the border with the US. Quebec veterinarians are on the look out on the border for signs that the sometimes near-fatal respiratory virus, which has skipped from horses to dogs south of the border, could be reaching Canada, reports the Montreal Gazette.
Although there is no evidence that humans could be at risk, Ed Dubovi, director of virology at New York's Cornell University animal health lab, said: "Of all animals, dogs have the most intimate contact with humans on a daily basis, so the potential for human infection has to be in the back of our minds."
The virus, which was first discovered in race hounds in Florida in January, has spread to at least 16 states.
Symptoms include coughing, sneezing and runny eyes. Although all dogs who come into contact with the virus get infected with it, only 80 per cent become ill, and just five to eight per cent die from it.
Further good news comes from the fact that the flu responds well to antibiotic treatment.
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