There is an outbreak of canine influenza in the midwest

[undeterred]

It was announced last week that at least 1000 dogs in the Chicago area have been diagnosed with the flu and that 5 have died. There has been one confirmed case in Wisconsin.

Today they announced the following: The outbreak of K9 flu is not the more common H3N8 strain. Cornell and Wisconsin vets schools have determined that it is H3N2, previously unknown outside Asia. H3N2 is far more vicious than H3N8. Infected dogs get sick faster, and it also affects cats. (H3N8 does not.) Like human flu, it is highly contagious. It causes lots of coughing and difficulty breathing. It can be deadly if it's not treated. Worst of all, there's no vaccine for it. Doctors are cross-testing it with the existing H3N8 vaccine to see if there's any overlap.

Today I got my dog vaccinated for the H3N8 strain, which is the only vaccine available. Its a two part vaccine so I have to bring him back for the booster in 3 weeks.

My dog is not a puppy or old - he is 7 and very healthy so he would probably survive the flu. However he goes to dog parks, daycare, and occasionally boards in a kennel - so his chances of coming into contact with an infected dog would be greater than for most dogs. My vet recommended the vaccine, even though its for a different strain... the flu vaccine that humans get is usually not made from the flu thats going around the same season. They are hoping it would provide some immunity.

I have not heard of a vaccine for cats.

This could turn into a pretty big deal, so watch the news for it in your part of the country.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2015/04/13/the-dog-flu-news-gets-worse-for-chicago-pets

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Researchers-Say-Chicago-Area-Dog-Flu-Caused-by-Virus-Never-Seen-in-US-Before-299572631.html

[shenmue]

1. Oh no

[TorchTheWitch]

2. scary!

Years ago our area had a dog flu outbreak but it was one there was a vaccine for. Very scary when it's one where there is no vaccine.

You might want to limit your dog's contact with other dogs while this desease is raging. No contact would be best since that's how they get it (from infected dogs), but you can only do what you can do with that. Since my dog has tons of physical contact even through the chain link fence that separates him from my neighbor's two doggies I do worry that they have all their vaccinations up to date and aren't carrying anything Yoshi could catch. I'm probably silly for worrying but I always worry for him all the same.