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Veterinarians warn of mysterious, highly contagious dog illness

In most cases, the disease has led to coughing, sneezing and lethargy.

TAMPA, Fla. — With so many people traveling for the holidays, veterinarians are warning against a mysterious respiratory illness infecting dogs across the country.

So far, there haven't been many reports of the disease in the Tampa Bay area. But as folks take their pets with them to other parts of the country, or leave them around other dogs at boarding facilities, there's concern the illness could spread.

“If anything would happen to them, I would be heartbroken,” said Angelina DeLorenzo, visiting a dog park in Tampa with her three dogs.

DeLorenzo says her dogs love the park and socializing with four-legged friends. But she just heard about a mysterious, highly contagious virus impacting dogs, so she said this might be it for a while.

“And I think it’s just time to be safe and, you know, stay home a little bit more,” she said.

Doctors say the illness is similar to kennel cough but worse. And so far, traditional medications haven’t been effective.

“Usually those work with kennel cough, influenza, but these are not doing the job,” Veterinary Dr. Grace Chang said. She says the illness appears to be a virus, spread through close contact, possibly sharing water bowls.

Florida is among those states reporting some cases of the respiratory disease, but it’s still so new that some pet owners we spoke with hadn’t heard about it yet.

“Now that I know, we would definitely monitor him more since we’ve been here,” Madi Ellis said about her dog, Benji. “And I guess, if we take him out again, just be keeping an eye on the dog he’s hanging around.”

It's tough timing since lots of folks might be bringing their four-legged family members to visit others for the holidays in areas where the infection has been more prevalent or, perhaps, boarding them with lots of other dogs while they travel.

In most cases, the disease has led to coughing, sneezing and lethargy.

But if left unchecked it could possibly lead to pneumonia — and in rare cases, death.

“If they start having fevers of greater than 103 [degrees] or they’re not eating or they’re coughing large amounts of phlegm, things like that, then they need to go in as soon as they can,” Chang said.

DeLorenzo added: “Give it time to run its course. And then, hopefully, we can all come back and be safe.”

Veterinarians say this would be a good time to decrease contact with other dogs and make sure your pet is up to date on its vaccines, including those that protect against respiratory illnesses, adding that symptoms usually start to present themselves within a couple of days. 

However, some owners report their pets continue coughing for weeks. In most cases, the mysterious illness eventually runs its course.

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