Cases of a fatal respiratory condition in dogs have appeared in Oregon, Indiana, Illinois, Washington, Idaho, California, Nevada and throughout the Northeast as veterinarians scramble to determine what is causing the mysterious illness.
The initial sign, according to experts, is a persistent cough lasting for several weeks that proves resistant to traditional antibiotic treatments.
“It seems to happen very, very quickly,” remarked Dr. Lindsay Ganzer, a veterinarian at North Springs Veterinary Referral Center in Colorado Springs, when discussing the condition in dogs. “[Dogs] go from this cough that just won’t go away… then all of a sudden they develop this pneumonia.”
Kevin Snekvik, the Executive Director of the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Lab, shared insights into the symptoms of the illness in an interview with KIRO7. He explained, “Your dog will run a fever and they won’t feel good. They’ll become lethargic, meaning they want to lie around more when normally they’d be wanting to play outside… and the coughing part of it, that becomes more productive like a wet cough, like a hacking cough.” a fatal respiratory
According to information from the Oregon Department of Agriculture, additional symptoms include sneezing, eye or nose discharge, fatigue, blue or purple gums resulting from oxygen deprivation, difficulty breathing, and negative tests for other common respiratory illnesses.