MILWAUKEE - A deadly bacterial strain that attacks dogs in animal shelters has struck for a third time, and a shelter medicine expert credits quick countermeasures for preventing more dogs from dying.
The latest dog health outbreak was at the Humane Animal Welfare Society of Waukesha County, 10 miles west of Milwaukee, where seven dogs died over 10 days and two others became ill, prompting the shelter to stop taking dogs in or adopting them out.
The Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Madison said Friday that the dogs had the strain of bacteria -- streptococcus equi zooepidemicus -- that rapidly attacks the respiratory system, although at least one of the three dogs the lab examined also had parainfluenza virus. More tests were being done.
The case is just the third documented outbreak of the illness that causes dogs to become lethargic and feverish and then invades the respiratory system, said Kate Hurley, director at the Kort Shelter Medicine Program at the University of California-Davis.
"People's pet animals are really at minimal risk," she said. "Even within shelters this is very rare."
The first outbreak was at a Las Vegas shelter where as many as a dozen dogs a day had been dying in late 2006 until the illness was diagnosed in February 2007."The staff estimated that over 1,000 dogs had died with this bleeding from the nose and mouth and acute respiratory disease that is characteristic of this," Hurley said.
The second outbreak was last February in a Miami shelter where about a dozen dogs died.
"It doesn't seem to have been able to escape from a shelter or a greyhound kennel type of environment and spread into communities," Hurley said, "and it may be because the disease course is just so rapid.
"Once they are symptomatic, they tend to go downhill very rapidly and maybe there just hasn't been time for it to spread."
The exact mode by which the disease spreads isn't known, she said.
"It does seem to be highly contagious," she said. "It's possible that it's airborne within a facility or it's spread on caretakers' feet and on objects or on common surfaces," Hurley said.
It has not occurred in places such as dog day-care facilities, she said.
"It may be that there is some other compromise with stray animals coming together in shelters with a poor vaccine history that contributes to susceptibility to this kind of outbreak," Hurley said.
"Or it just may be luck that it hasn't struck in a doggy day care or boarding type facility," she added. "The fact is we don't know everything about this disease yet.
"But certainly it's not spreading dramatically and it's not widespread in the United States."
The Waukesha case shows the value of recognizing the disease as soon as a dog dies and then treating other dogs with antibiotics before they start showing symptoms.
"That's exactly what we recommended to the shelter in Waukesha," Hurley said.
"When we get on top of it really quickly, then it's been a lot easier to get the outbreak under control, so that's good news."
Lynn Olenik, executive director at the Waukesha County shelter, said Friday that the two other dogs that showed early symptoms responded to antibiotics and were expected to survive. No other dogs or other animals at the shelter seem to be affected.
The bacterial strain is becoming better known among shelters and veterinarians, according to Hurley. Still, "I think there's a number of veterinarians and shelters who aren't aware of this because it's so new and it's not widespread."
She recommended keeping dogs vaccinated for other canine respiratory disease and in good health to reduce chances of getting the disease.
Also, "keep your animal out of a shelter by making sure that it has two kinds of identification," she said.
Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-dogdeaths,0,6463906.story
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