[ SHOWGSD-L ] New Flu Vaccine Approved - for dogs
- From: Stormy Hope <Stormy435@xxxxxxx>
- To: SHOWGSD-L <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:27:51 -0700
Too much quoted material again... sorry, ADmin. It's been a long day:-(
Stormy
New Flu Vaccine Approved - for dogs
Mon Jun 29, 2009 9:48 pm (PDT)
Some veterinarians have found that the dogs that tend to die from it are
the ?brachycephalics? ? dogs with short snub noses.
Just as _obesity_
(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/obesity/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier
) has proved dangerous to human flu
victims because of the weight on their chests, being bred to have a
short,
bent respiratory tract is dangerous for dogs.
_http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/health/30flu.html?_r=1&ref=science_
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/health/30flu.html?_r=1&ref=science)
New Flu Vaccine Approved ? for Dogs
Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press
NOT-SO-EASY BREATHING Sophie, left, and Pugsly, adopted from Mid-
Atlantic
Pug Rescue, may be susceptible to the dog flu because of their short,
bent
respiratory tracts.
* By _DONALD G. McNEIL Jr._
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/donald_g_jr_mcneil/index.html?inline=nyt-per
)
Published: June 29, 2009
There is a new _flu_
(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/the-flu/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier
) virus going around. It initially
looked quite lethal, and caused panic. Now it is clear that it has
killed
relatively few victims ? and many of those have underlying conditions.
It is
particularly dangerous to be the possessor of a pushed-in nose ? that
is, to
be a Pekingese, a pug or a Shi-Tzu.
Do you have a question about dog flu? Dr. Cynda Crawford answers
readers?
questions about canine influenza and the first vaccine approved for it.
_Go to Consults »_
(http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/29/the-dog-flu-virus-are-you-or-your-pet-at-risk/
)
It is the H3N8 dog flu. The virus, scientists believe, jumped from
horses
to dogs at least five years ago, but it has never infected a human.
Last week, the _United States Department of Agriculture_
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/agriculture_department/ind
ex.html?inline=nyt-org) announced that it had approved the first vaccine
for it.
While fears of a flu pandemic among humans have shifted from the lethal
H5N1 avian flu to the relatively mild H1N1 _swine flu_
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/i/influenza/swine_influenza/index.html
?inline=nyt-classifier) , the H3N8 canine flu has been a quiet
undercurrent in the United States, rarely discussed except among
veterinarians and dog
owners in the few areas where it has struck hard: Florida, New York
City?s
northern suburbs, Philadelphia and Denver.
In line with the virologists? adage that the only predictable thing
about
flu viruses is that they are unpredictable, the dog flu has baffled
those
following it.
?I don?t think we know what this virus is going to do yet,? said one of
its discoverers, Dr. Cynda Crawford of the _University of Florida_
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/university_of_flor
ida/index.html?inline=nyt-org) veterinary school.
When Dr. Crawford began studying it in January 2004, it had come to her
notice as a mysterious _cough_
(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/cough/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier
) and _pneumonia_
(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/pneumonia/overview.html?inline=nyt-classi
fier) that killed a third of the greyhounds at a Florida dog track. By
the next year, she had found it in seven states and had shown that it
could
be passed by dogs who just rubbed noses on the street or shared a water
dish, and that humans could carry it on their clothes. There was a
brief flurry
of fear that it would kill 1 percent to 10 percent of the country?s 70
million dogs.
It has proved about as deadly as Dr. Crawford predicted. She estimates
that
by itself, it kills 5 percent of the dogs that catch it. Add the
deaths at
shelters that eliminate the virus by killing all their dogs and
disinfecting their cages, and the total mortality rate is 8 percent.
(By contrast, the mortality rate of the 1918 Spanish flu in humans was
about 2 percent.)
But it has not spread nearly as vigorously as she expected. It has now
been
found in 30 states, but almost exclusively in settings where dogs live
closely together: shelters, pet stores, kennels and dog schools.
Because the
owners of these establishments have learned to turn away sick dogs
just as
school principals facing swine flu send home sick children, the
disease?s
progress has been slowed.
?Probably over 10,000 dogs have been infected,? Dr. Crawford said,
?but I
can?t say whether it?s 20,000 or 30,000. In a population of 70 million,
that?s a drop in the bucket.?
Dr. Edward J. Dubovi of the veterinary school at _Cornell University_
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/cornell_unive
rsity/index.html?inline=nyt-org) , another discoverer of the virus, said
it is ?probably not as well adapted to dogs as it could be.? It took
five
mutations to let it jump to dogs from horses, where it had circulated
for 40
years.
Another mutation or two ?could make it a very serious issue,? he said,
but
at the moment, ?it takes a certain density of dogs to keep it going.?
Some veterinarians have found that the dogs that tend to die from it are
the ?brachycephalics? ? dogs with short snub noses.
Just as _obesity_
(http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/symptoms/obesity/overview.html?inline=nyt-classifier
) has proved dangerous to human flu
victims because of the weight on their chests, being bred to have a
short,
bent respiratory tract is dangerous for dogs.
?It really puts a strain on their ability to breathe,? Dr. Crawford
said.
?They can?t move air in and out of their lungs.?
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