NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A highly contagious strain of dog flu is making its rounds across the country, and there have even been a few cases reported in Tennessee, according to WKRN News 2.
Veterinarians say to exercise caution if you plan on traveling or even boarding your dog over the Christmas holiday.
This highly contagious strain of dog flu, known as H3N2, is affecting the upper respiratory system of dogs.
“It’s called Canine Influenza Virus, or CIV for short,” Murphy Road Animal Hospital veterinarian Dr. Christine Widmann said told News 2. “It’s a virus that has been circulating mostly in our Midwest. We have seen it trickle down here to the South.”
According to vets, the dog flu has similar symptoms as kennel cough.
“Unlike kennel cough, there have been some deaths reported with this disease,” Widmann said. “It’s very minimum percentage out of 1,000 reported cases in Chicago about five of those dogs have succumbed to the disease, but it’s those that are immune compromised.”
Symptoms of H3N2 include fever, running nose, cough, and some dogs can get pneumonia.
Vets say be careful where you take your dog if you’re traveling to the midwest this holiday season.
“Be cautious of dog parks, boarding facilities there, doggie daycare because it’s really that close contact with other canine that this disease seem to spread,” Widmann said.
Vets said the dog flu can spread between dogs, just like the flu does with human to human contact.