Canine flu cases on the rise in Westmoreland

Canine flu is very similar to human flu, according to Hempfield veterinarian Roman Lamberski.

“You get a bunch of kids together at a daycare and one of them has the flu, they’re going to spread it,” Lamberski said.

The canine flu virus, however, affects dogs rather than humans. And it shows in the pets Lamberski has seen this season at Pennsylvania Animal Wellness and Surgery in Hempfield.

“We’re a new clinic without a large routine clientele, but I’d say I’ve seen about a dozen cases,” he said. “CIV has been ubiquitous for some time. The problem is that viruses are much harder to diagnose than bacteria.

The other problem is that the symptoms of CIV – lethargy, loss of appetite, cough, fever and runny nose – are also part of the symptoms of Bordetellecommonly known as “kennel cough”.

However, most dogs are vaccinated against Bordetelleand when Lamberski started seeing vaccinated dogs getting sick, he started looking in other areas.

“Previously, I can’t remember a time when we would have done our own culture to identify it, because we empirically assume we’re dealing with kennel cough,” Lamberski said. “It wasn’t until we started hearing about CIV in our area, and I started hearing from my lab specialist that it was happening, that we started thinking it would be best to cultivate it. “

Originally identified more than four decades ago As an equine flu strain affecting horses, researchers believe the H3N8 strain of the flu virus “jumped” from horses to dogs in the early 2000s. And in March 2015, a second strain, H3N2, was identified as having passed from birds to dogs.

While the virus itself isn’t particularly dangerous on its own, with a mortality rate of between 1 and 5 percent, Lamberski said it can put infected dogs at risk for other complications.

“You can think of it like the human respiratory flu,” he said. “Immunocompromised, very young or very old animals are going to have a higher potential for secondary complications.”

Also, traditional antibiotics are ineffective against a virus, he said.

“There are antiviral drugs, of course, but they’re very expensive and you rarely need them for a flu virus,” he said.

News of the CIV cases is prompting kennel owners like Sam Rubin to take extra precautions. Rubin is the founder of Walkers Pet Hotail, with locations in Murrysville and north of Versailles.

“We have plenty of space outside for the dogs to run and play in, and we walk our dogs individually,” Rubin said. “We also have a few isolation suites with negative air pressure. Normally this would be for something like an animal in heat, but if we see a dog with symptoms we can quickly isolate them.

Rubin said Walkers hasn’t had a positive case of CIV, but since an infected dog can be contagious for several days before symptoms appear, he said he wanted to be prepared.

“We’re not changing our procedures at this time, but people can definitely ask their dog to do a ‘small group’ play session or an individual session if they’re concerned,” he said.

Lamberski said the local shelters, kennels and dog parks he knows are “doing a wonderful job of maintaining this isolation.”

“I haven’t seen a case for about three weeks,” he said.

Rubin said that while he recommended pet owners try to get a CIV vaccine for their dog, supply chain issues made it difficult.

“I would say people should just make sure their dog’s vaccines are up to date and speak with their vet if they have any concerns,” he said.