New Mexico vets on lookout for mysterious respiratory illness among dogs

Nov. 26—Santa Fe veterinarians are keeping track of a mysterious canine respiratory virus that has weaved through several states, including Colorado, and taken the lives of some dogs along the way.

While canine experts continue to find out what type of virus it is, what causes it, and how to address it, many veterinarians are urging dog owners to do something that could cause them — and dog boarding kennels — some grief over the upcoming holiday season.

Keep your dog away from dog parks and boarding kennels for the time being, they say.

"I don't think people should panic," said Dr. Brent Parker of the Santa Fe Animal Hospital in an interview. But, he added, "People should keep their dogs at home. Your pets are your family, so protect your family."

As of Wednesday, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture had no reports of the illness, according to Veterinary Diagnostic Services Division Director Dr. John Ragsdale.

"In the event that this illness — whose nature has not been confirmed — is detected in the state, testing will conducted at NMDA's VDS Division in Albuquerque, and if necessary, also by [the U.S. Department of Agriculture's] Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Ames, Iowa," Ragsdale said in an email.

Those in the dog boarding business are equally concerned but maintain that if they are practicing safe health standards, dogs should be OK in their facilities.

Kathy Jackson of Lucky Dawg Daycare in Santa Fe said she has a strict policy that all dogs coming in must be completely vaccinated, including for kennel cough, "or they can't come."

She said she has shut down her kennel a few times over the past few years as illnesses similar to kennel cough show up in dogs. The new mystery disease, she said, is "very contagious."

Carmen Rustenbeck, CEO of the International Boarding and Pet Service Association, said she understands the concerns about boarding dogs while veterinarians try to get a handle on the illness but noted "a pet could be infected long before it shows symptoms."

Most boarding facilities are aware of the new health threat to dogs and are following strict health procedures to keep animals safe, she said in an interview. She said if they are spotting anything unusual that may be related to respiratory issues, they will "isolate the pets from the rest, start a disinfectant process and call the owners to come get their pets."

One thing pet owners can do, she said, is pay more attention to not only the behavior of their own dog, but any dogs that canine comes into contact with. She said being more vigilant about signs of possible respiratory problems, like kennel cough, in other dogs could help stem the spread of any contagious disease to your dog.

The illness could cause even more serious problems for shelters.

"No one really knows where it's coming from [or] what's causing it — whether it's a virus, a fungus, bacteria," Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society veterinarian Michelle Salob said in an interview. "Since we don't know what's causing it, if we get one case in the shelter the whole shelter could have it before we know they have it."

Salob said her staff is being "really vigilant" with regards to dogs with respiratory illnesses and haven't spotted any signs of the new illness in the dogs there.

"So far everyone is acting the way we expect them to," she said.

For those concerned about their feline friends, Salob said it's unusual for a dog illness to affect cats, or vice versa.

Veterinarians say the illness starts with a cough that may last for weeks before progressing to pneumonia and further respiratory problems. Media reports say the disease is not responsive to antibiotics.

So far several states, including Colorado, New Hampshire and Oregon, have reported cases, and Los Angeles County officials recently reported some dogs were suffering from respiratory symptoms similar to those associated with the virus.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has received "over 200 reports of atypical canine infectious respiratory disease from Oregon veterinarians" to date, according to its website.

In Colorado Springs, veterinarian Lindsey Ganzer of the North Springs Veterinary Referral Center said in an interview her hospital has seen 35 to 40 cases of the virus since October. Four dogs have died or had to be euthanized, she said.

The signs include coughing, eye and nasal discharge, sneezing and — once things near the pneumonic stage — difficulty breathing. In addition, dogs may become lethargic, not eat and have gums that turn blue or purple, she said.

For anyone wondering whether this illness may be a new strain of COVID hitting dogs, Ganzer said "it's very, very uncommon that there are viruses that can be transmitted directly from humans to animals. ... Not that it couldn't happen."

She, like other veterinarians monitoring the illness, says dog owners should make sure their pets are up to date on their vaccinations, including kennel cough.