DALLAS – Veterinarians are warning dog owners to vaccinate their pets from the canine influenza, a strain of the virus known as H3N8.
Many North Texas pet owners, including Barbara Van Pelt, admit they have never heard about the virus strain infecting dogs.
Wednesday, Van Pelt brought her dog "Scout," a recent rescue, to the Casa Linda Animal Clinic for his shot.
"Of the dogs that may get sick, they say eight to 10 percent may die from it,” Van Pelt said she recently learned. “That is serious enough for me to get my dogs vaccinated.”
The dog flu is a variation of the horse flu. It was first found in Greyhound racing groups in 2003. Recently, it has spread to the general population, including house pets.
In the last three weeks, veterinarians at Casa Linda Animal Clinic have given more than 200 doses of the dog flu vaccine. The vaccine consists of two shots given two weeks apart. The shots are then followed by an annual booster, said Dr. Tamara Johnson, a veterinarian at the clinic.
The symptoms include fever, coughing and sneezing. The virus, which is contagious, can be spread through dogs sniffing each other, sharing water bowls and even through humans who pet an infected dog and later pet a healthy dog.
"We're going to worry about dogs that go to the dog park, dogs that are kenneled or boarded, dogs that go to the groomer," Johnson explained.
The Casa Linda clinic is in the 11000 block of Garland Road, which is near White Rock Lake where there are no confirmed cases. But, Johnson said another Dallas County clinic has seen five cases of H3N8 recently.
Neither cats nor people can catch H3N8, she said.
Johnson said while the vaccine doesn't prevent dog flu entirely, it does lessen the severity of the virus.
