Veterinarians: Mystery illness among dogs present in CT - Hartford Courant

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A mysterious respiratory illness responsible for declining health and, in some cases death, among dogs may have arrived in Connecticut, veterinarians say.

Dr. Anthony DellaMonica said Guilford Veterinary Hospital has treated more than a dozen dogs with severe respiratory symptoms. DellaMonica believes these cases are part of a larger, national outbreak of an unidentified canine respiratory syndrome.

The unknown disease, which often starts with a cough, sneezing, runny nose, eye discharge, lethargy, fever and a loss of appetite, is resistant to typical treatments and can last for months, at times progressing into pneumonia and resulting in death in rare cases.

“Thankfully, all of our patients have recovered,” DellaMonica said, adding that, with the exception of a persistent cough, most of the dogs have “returned to normalcy.”

Veterinarians say suspected outbreaks are active in 14 states including Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maryland, Florida, Oregon, Colorado, and now Connecticut.

DellaMonica said the symptoms among his patients initially resembled Kennel Cough, a common upper respiratory infection in canines. But when the dogs did not respond to the usual course of treatment, and some infections progressed into pneumonia, DellaMonica said the staff at Guilford Veterinary Hospital began to recognize that this was far from a typical case of Kennel Cough.

“We started thinking that there’s something different going on here,” DellaMonica said. “We did actually perform advanced testing on some of these dogs trying to isolate a particular causal agent, and we were unable to do so. And apparently, that’s what is being seen throughout the country.”

The Connecticut Department of Agriculture said they do not have confirmation that the unknown illness is present in the state, according to the department’s Director of Communications Rebecca Eddy.

Eddy added that the Office of the State Veterinarian “has not received unusual reports of canine respiratory disease or mortality.”

“The agency is communicating with companion animal veterinarians requesting they report unusual canine respiratory disease or mortality to the state veterinarian’s office,” Eddy said. “If dogs display any respiratory illness symptoms, including coughing, sneezing, nasal and/or eye discharge, and lethargy, owners should contact their veterinarian immediately.”

The department encouraged pet owners to keep vaccinations up-to-date, limit contact with unknown and sick dogs, avoid communal water bowls, and to pursue veterinary care and keep dogs at home when sick. The department also advised against traveling with pets to states with a known outbreak.

“Cases occur most commonly in animals housed in settings such as shelters, boarding, or training facilities,” the department said in a press release that urged Connecticut pet owners to “exert caution as an atypical Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease (CIRDC) has been reported nationally and in nearby northeast states.”

DellaMonica said he began seeing the mystery illness in August, but most of the cases tapered off after the third week of October.

With widespread travel and gatherings Thanksgiving weekend, DellaMonica said “there’s concern that folks may unknowingly spread (the illness).” He speculated that if a post-holiday resurgence occurs, “we’re going to know within the next two weeks.”

“We’ve been trying to advise people to be especially careful (and) maybe try to avoid kenneling their dogs over this holiday season,” DellaMonica said. “If you have to go away, (see) if someone can come and care for the dog in your home. Avoid the dog park for a while. If you’re out walking, don’t let your dog go nose to nose with somebody else’s dog –– anything we can do to avoid spreading this.”

In other parts of the state, animal hospitals and clinics are taking extra precautions to stave off any potential spread.

The Connecticut Veterinary Center issued a statement asking all pets experiencing a cough, runny eyes or nose, or lack of appetite to use curbside care at their West Hartford, Kensington and Windsor locations.

The Connecticut Veterinary Center said the condition is “highly contagious” and “circulating in our area.”

“We understand that this additional precaution may be inconvenient, but it is a necessary step to ensure the safety and well-being of all our clients and pets,” the Connecticut Veterinary Center said.

A possible cause

At the University of New Hampshire, a team of researchers from the New Hampshire Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and Hubbard Center for Genomic Studies believe that they may have identified a bacterial link between cases.

After analyzing dozens of samples from New Hampshire, South Eastern Massachusetts, and Northern Rhode Island, the team could not identify any known canine respiratory viruses, fungi or bacteria — however, they did find a “bacterial-like organism, similar to Mycoplasma in a subset of the respiratory samples” that could not be cultured, or grown, in the lab, according to a recent report.

This “funky bacterium,” as described by UNH Pathology Section Chief Dr. David Needle in an interview with NBC News, is a smaller than normal bacteria and can be difficult to identify and sequence. In the same article, Needle said the bacterium likely evolved from or is part of the canine microbiome and added that based on the bacterium’s structure, the antibiotic doxycycline may be an effective treatment.

The Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory emphasized that the investigation remains ongoing and that new samples from suspected cases in Oregon, Colorado, Illinois and other areas will be analyzed over the next month.

“With any investigation of this nature it is difficult to differentiate correlation and causation with the detection of DNA sequences and agents,” the UNH lab said in a release last week. “These findings are only preliminary. More testing and analysis is needed before this syndrome is connected to a specific cause.”

If the researchers can’t find a way to grow the bacterium in the lab, DellaMonica said they can not definitively say whether the bacterium is the cause. Moreover, DellaMonica said they can’t run tests to determine the best treatments to fight the illness.

“It’s a bit of a vagary at this point, there’s a lot we don’t know about it,” DellaMonica said. “Time is going to tell, but we still may be at a disadvantage if we can never seem to isolate it.”

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