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Seasonal travels 'could' encourage spread of dog flu
Pet Insurance News
02 December 2005 Seasonal travels 'could' encourage spread of dog flu
Pet owners in North America are facing an increasing need to ensure that their dogs are covered by pet insurance as canine influenza spreads throughout the region. Travel during the holiday season by friends visiting one another with their dogs is likely to escalate the problem further.
Initially found in greyhounds, dog flu is a mutated form of a strain affecting horses and causes kennel cough-like symptoms but is far more serious and can require veterinary care.
Dr. Cynda Crawford of the University of Florida advised at a recent Centres for Disease Control meeting that: "A small population of dogs will develop complications, most likely bacterial complications, and these dogs do need to have their treatment supervised by a veterinarian."
Worryingly, about 20 per cent of infected dogs do not show signs of carrying the illness, but are able to infect others.
Dog flu is treatable with antiviral drugs, and since the start of the spread of the disease US and Canadian vets have been able to stem the number of dogs dying from the illness, reducing the mortality rate to five – eight per cent.
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