Post #193136 by Geeky Tiki on Mon, Oct 17, 2005 12:21 PM

Aloha,

There was a news article here about Dog Flu and how it is spreading.

As a dog owner, it caught my eye and I thought I'd pass on what I learned.

Seems there is a strain of influenze (the flu) that has jumped from horses to dogs.

It is pretty good at being contagious, and dogs have no innate immunity, in general. It is also so new that there is no vaccine yet.

It seems to have anywhere from a 2% to 20% mortality rate, so it can be mean.

Symptoms are much like kennel cough, with a dog getting cough, fever, runny nose, etc... but it progresses and can be quickly lethal.

The good news is that just like human flu, this bug is still sensitive to oral drugs called Tamiflu and Amantidine, if started within the first few days of symptoms.

Many people don't yet know about the dog flu or about flu drugs working for it, so I thought I'd pass that on to see if it helps any of our furry ohana.

Aplogies for excess nerdiness.

Cheers!