Might be worth checking into this. I have heard reports that it has shown up in the suburban areas in Minnesota, but nothing first hand.
The FVMA is sending the following link to an
emergency alert that the
State Veterinarian, Dr. Thomas J. Holt, has asked us to forward to our
members attention. Please use the following link
>> http://www.fvma.com/associations/3040/file...otice%20Web.pdf
The link is also available on our home page at www.fvma.com
The State Veterinarian's advisory alerts you to a
canine respiratory disease caused by an influenza
virus, as reported by
the University of Florida, College of Veterinary
Medicine, Small Animal Clinical Sciences. The same virus has apparently
been involved in
several outbreaks of severe respiratory disease in
racing greyhounds in
Florida and other states in the past year.
Awareness of this highly contagious virus, which is different from,
and can be more severe than the normal "kennel
cough" complex, is
important for practitioners and kennel operators,
especially since
there is no rapid test or vaccination currently
available. Early
clinical identification and isolation of suspected
cases, as well as preventive measures in screening boarders with unknown history or early
clinical signs, is recommended.
The use of flu vaccines approved for other species
is contraindicated
because of the potential for adverse and possibly
fatal reactions in dogs.
For support in submitting samples for testing for
canine influenza, you
may contact Dr. Cynda Crawford at UF/CVM Department of Small Animal
Clinical Sciences, at (352) 392-4700, ext. 5731; fax(352) 392-6215; or
e-mail at crawfordc@mail.vetmed.ufl.edu
Additional information about this virus will be
presented during the
FVMA's upcoming conference in Orlando. A
presentation will be made on
Sunday, September 11th from 8:00am to 8:50am in the Diamond Room, by Dr.
Cynda Crawford. She is the lead researcher at the
Collge of Veterinary
Medicine work on this emerging disease.