Swine Flu Pandemic and Dogs

Posted on June 11, 2009 by: WayCoolDogs

The thought of a swine flu pandemic and dogs is hardly on the minds of scientists and world leaders, but is on the minds of dog owners due to a growing concern of the swine flu itself and its rapid mutation. To set the record straight, swine flu is now correctly called H1N1 with talk it will possibly be moved to a global swine flu pandemic category by the World Health Organization (WHO). This has many people concerned, not only because of their families but also because of personal worries about a swine flu pandemic and dogs situation, with beloved family pets in mind.

In reality, the swine flu will be moved to a pandemic category simply because of its geographic considerations, and to better bring in medical assistance to certain geographical considerations. Unfortunately, discussion of the severity of the swine flu is not in the open as it is hard to make a “global statement regarding H1N1″ as it differs from country to country.

SWINE FLU UPDATE

The swine flu is rapidly spreading, with WHO’s guideline criteria stating they can possibly declare a pandemic as the swine flu has spread from its original established community in a country outside the first region from which it was initially reported. If it is declared a swine flu pandemic, it will be the first one since 40 years ago (1968-69) when the H3N2 viral strain, originating in Hong Kong, killed up to million people.

As of yesterday, Wednesday June 11, 2009, reports of 74 countries with 141 deaths and 27,737 swine flu cases had come in. Every state in the United States has declared swine flu cases as being present. Because of this, the WHO flu expert emergency committee is meeting to assess the severity of the swine flu in regard to the pandemic phase change.

Recognized as a mild and common respiratory virus of pigs, the H1N1 virus mutates in order to work around vaccines and to keep the infections active. Scientifically, we know that the virus incorporates avian, pig and human strains but so far no pigs have been diagnosed as the source of the “swine flu”. The main worry of H1N1 is that it is spreading faster as a human to human transmission than if it were just pig to human. Unfortunately, humans have not had time to build up an immunity to the H1N1 virus as it is a new mutation.

WHAT ABOUT SWINE FLU PANDEMIC AND DOGS?

Presently, we are told dogs are not in danger of catching swine flu. The situation of swine flu pandemic and dogs is really not a worry, according to flu experts. But with such a rapidly mutating virus, being overly cautious should be a high priority with all members of the family, including the family dog. But presently we can state with certain there has been no known cases of swine flu in dogs even though the CDC states about dog flu:

To date, there is no evidence of transmission of canine influenza virus from dogs to people and there has not been a single reported case of human infection with the canine influenza virus. While this virus infects dogs and spreads between dogs, there is no evidence that this virus infects humans.

However, human infections with new influenza viruses (against which the human population has little immunity) would be concerning if they occurred. Influenza viruses are constantly changing and it is possible for a virus to change so that it could infect humans and spread easily between humans. Such a virus could represent a pandemic influenza threat. For this reason, CDC and its partners are monitoring the H3N8 influenza virus (as well as other animal influenza viruses) along with instances of possible human exposure to these viruses very closely.

In general, however, canine influenza viruses are considered to pose a low threat to humans. As mentioned earlier, while these viruses are well established in horse and dog populations, there is no evidence of infection among humans with this virus. (Key Facts About Dog Flu, CDC)

According to the ASPCA, “To date, only humans have been affected by the new A/H1N1 virus, and it is unknown whether the virus will impact other animals.” The threat is low and but unknown,which means it may eventually mutate again until the source is found.

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This post is filed in: Dog Health, Care, Grooming, Swine Flu in Dogs
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