The epidemic H3N2 canine flu virus continues to spread across the United States. Cases were recently reported in Texas and Georgia, and according to Cornell University, the flu has been confirmed in 10 other states: Illinois (more than 1,500 dogs have been infected in the Chicago area); Alabama; California; Indiana; Iowa; New York; Massachusetts; Michigan; New Jersey; and Wisconsin.
Most at risk for becoming infected are puppies, older dogs and dogs with weakened immune systems. While most dogs recover within 10 to 30 days, some have developed serious issues, such as pneumonia. Six dogs have died from H3N2.
People cannot get this flu from their dogs, but the H3N2 virus can be transmitted to cats. So far, no cats have been diagnosed with this flu strain.
“The virus spreads from nose to nose (or direct) contact between dogs,” Keith Poulsen, a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told USA TODAY. “As people travel and expose dogs to other dogs with the virus, they will bring the virus back to their hometown. This is how the virus has spread from the Chicago area to Wisconsin, Iowa and Texas. Similar to how respiratory disease spreads at a daycare or airport — people sneezing and coughing on each other.”
Click here for tips on preventing your dog from getting the H3N2 virus.
Calling anyone who knows a dog who performed a heroic act over the past 12 months: The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is now accepting nominations for its 2015 Dog of the Year.
Humane Awards nominations are also being accepted for Cat of the Year, Kid of the Year and a Public Service Award.
“The ASPCA Humane Awards celebrates the unique bond between people and pets by honoring individuals committed to the protection of animals, as well as dogs and cats whose experiences represent the urgency behind our mission,” said ASPCA President and CEO Matt Bershadker in a news release.
“We’re looking for stories that deserve attention and can inspire people across the country to be a voice for animals in crisis.”
Last year’s deserving Dog of the Year winner was Jonny Justice. Jonny, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, was rescued from Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels in 2007.
One year later, his new pet parents, Cris Cohen and Jennifer Long of San Francisco, noticed how well he got along with children, so Jonny became a therapy dog. Jonny visits terminally ill children receiving medical treatment, providing them with love and support (and probably lots of soothing Staffie smooches). He has also helped improve literacy by participating in programs in which kids practice reading aloud to him.
You can nominate heroic dogs for the 2015 award through July 3. The winners will be chosen by a committee selected by the ASPCA, and announced in October. Each winner will receive an award at a luncheon in New York City.
The epidemic canine flu virus that has sickened more than 1,000 dogs in the Chicago area, as well as dogs in Wisconsin and Indiana, has now reportedly spread to Texas and Georgia.
The flu has also claimed its sixth victim. Johnny Suede, a 3-year-old Chihuahua, died earlier this month at the P.A.W.S. animal shelter in Tinley Park, Ill., about 30 miles from Chicago.
“We gave him IV fluids, antibiotics, nebulizer treatments, you name it,” Cindy Staros, a shelter volunteer, told WLS. “He just couldn’t pull through.”
Most of the dogs at P.A.W.S. have been infected with the virus. Since they can be contagious for up to 21 days, the shelter is temporarily closed.
This dog flu was originally thought to be H3N8, a strain that first appeared in the U.S. in 2004 at a Greyhound racing track in Florida, sickening dozens of the dogs, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). Since then, H3N8 has been reported in 30 states.
But in April, scientists confirmed the current epidemic is actually the strain H3N2. There have been outbreaks of H3N2 in China and South Korea since 2006, but it had never before been identified in the U.S. It is believed to have been brought here by a dog from Asia.
Most at risk for becoming infected are puppies, older dogs and dogs with weakened immune systems. After sickening an estimated 1,300 dogs in the Midwest, the flu outbreak is now moving south.
The first case of H3N2 in Texas was reported May 13. The affected dog and his family had recently moved to the Houston area from Chicago, according to NBC DFW.
The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine alerted veterinarians Friday that a dog in Athens, Ga., has been confirmed to have the flu, although it has not yet been determined whether it’s H3N2 or H3N8. The dog had recently been in contact with others at a boarding facility in Atlanta, FOX 5 reports.
Click here for tips on preventing your dog from getting the H3N2 virus.
Extreme athlete Dean Potter, who gained notoriety two years ago when he filmed his dog taking a BASE jump along with him, was killed last night in an accident at Yosemite National Park.
Potter and another jumper, Graham Hunt, were both killed when they took a 3,000-foot plunge off Taft Point, ABC News reports.
BASE jumping (the name is an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth) involves jumping off a fixed object and using a parachute to break the fall. It is illegal in all national parks.
The sport’s risk of death is one in every 2,300 jumps, according to Bandolier, a healthcare journal written by University of Oxford scientists. As a comparison, for skydiving, the risk is one in 101,083 jumps.
“There are very few BASE jumpers with more than 500 jumps who have not spent serious time in the hospital due to BASE accidents,” noted the Snake River BASE Academy in an ESPN story about the sport. “Most agree that it is just a matter of time until they are seriously injured. If you are not ready to die BASE jumping, you are not ready to go BASE jumping.”
In 2013, wearing a tandem wingsuit, Potter BASE jumped off the 13,000-foot Eiger in Switzerland with his dog Whisper, a Miniature Australian Cattle Dog. Many people, myself included, thought the stunt was cruel rather than cool.
“She used to get real rigid wearing [the harness], a sign that she’s nervous,” Potter told Climbing in 2013. “But now she’s quite used to it. She’s pretty loose.”
Eerily, Whisper’s first BASE jump was in the same park where Potter was killed.
“Her first flight was Half Dome,” Potter told Climbing. “Yosemite has the safest cliffs in the world — El Cap and Half Dome — to BASE jump. I think we’ve done seven jumps now. I jump daily, so Whisper doesn’t go on all the flights. She only goes on the very safest ones — big-mountain flights.”
It’s unfortunate that Potter has become yet another BASE jumping statistic. But fortunately for Whisper, she was not strapped to her dog dad when he plunged to his death.
Ray, one of the 50 Pit Bulls rescued in 2007 from Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels in Virginia, crossed the Rainbow Bridge last night.
He had babesia, a debilitating blood parasite that is common in fighting dogs, who transmit it to each other through puncture wounds. After undergoing surgery yesterday to have his spleen removed, Ray suffered a blood clot.
“I never, ever felt as if Ray were just our dog,” wrote his grieving dog dad, Kevin Johnson, on the Ray the Vicktory Dog website today. “It was as if he felt he had a mission to meet and touch as many people as he could.
“When we would be having lunch on the deck, he would watch intently for people coming out to take a seat. He’d stand, his ears would fold back and his tail would start tentatively wagging side to side. His yearning expression pulled people in again and again. I am eternally grateful for all the people who set down their plates to come over and give him a pat and a kind word. Every time that happened, it confirmed his belief that he was special and that people needed to meet and love on him.”
Prior to 2007, most dogs rescued from fighting operations were euthanized. Even Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society of the United States, said back then that the rescued Vick dogs would never be suitable as pets, and should all be destroyed.
But dog experts at animal welfare organizations including the Best Friends Animal Society (BFAS) knew better. They took in the Vick survivors, rehabilitated them and found loving forever homes in which many of these “unadoptable” survivors thrived.
Kevin and his wife, Jacque, both worked at the BFAS Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. They had worked with other Vicktory dogs, but fell in love with Ray. After fostering him, they officially adopted him on Valentine’s Day last year.
“Ray’s a bit more challenging (than some of the other Vicktory dogs),” Kevin said in a February 2014 news story on the BFAS website. “He’s got a mischievous glint in his eye. I’ve always been drawn to dogs (like) that. He’s got spunk, and I really enjoy that.”
Since the town where the Johnsons lived imposed a breed ban, the couple packed up their pets and moved to a new home in dog-friendlier Fredonia, Ariz.
“The fact that they totally changed their living situation to adopt him was very admirable – it showed … their dedication to him,” said BFAS Adoption Manager Kristi Littrell in the news story.
“Ray Ray was one of the most reactive, bouncing-up-and-down boys when he first arrived,” wrote Angela Rovetto, the lead pet caregiver at Best Friends Animal Society, in a comment today on the Ray the Vicktory Dog Facebook page. “To read so eloquently that he could be in public laying down, see a dog and then look to a human for direction, with trust….absolute transformation due to love, patience and guidance.”
Another Vicktory dog, Jonny Justice, was awarded the prestigious ASPCA Dog of the Year award in 2014. Within the past year, Vicktory dogs Hector and Gracie have also crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
“Today I am finding it hard to even breathe,” Kevin wrote. “In the past few years I have lost both of my parents, three dogs and a macaw. And each death cut like a knife and brought waves of sorrow. But nothing like I am feeling now. No other pain has even come close.”
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