Hundreds of dogs across multiple states have been struck down with a severe respiratory illness. Veterinarians suspect a mystery bacteria but are still grasping for clues.
  • money_loo@lemmy.world
    67·
    7 months ago

    What an absolute shitshow of an article from Wired. I know media often leads with fear mongering and hyperbole just for clicks, but this is bordering on dangerous with how they present it as some super mystery that will infect your furry friend.

    They include this part:

    David Needle, senior veterinary pathologist at the University of New Hampshire, has a lead on what the culprit might be; he thinks it may have been stalking canines for some time. In 2022, Needle’s team began looking at nasal and oral swabs taken from sick dogs in New England, in cases where no known cause of disease was found and the dogs weren’t responsive to treatment. They found a small DNA sequence of a potential disease-causing microbe in 21 of the initial 30 animal samples screened.

    And then never elaborate on what the suspected culprit is, just leaving everyone hanging with their own worst case scenarios for what it could be.

    The very next part of the information they are sharing, that they for some reason left out was that the doctor found is that it’s very likely being caused by the mycoplasma bacteria.

    Which is the same one causing pneumonia in humans right now.

    My understanding is these sorts of seasonal infections aren’t uncommon, and it’s likely being exacerbated by everyone returning to social norms, so all the little bugs are getting their buffet back on for the first time in years on a vulnerable population.

    Who knows, though. I am not a doctor.

    • Monument@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      15·
      7 months ago

      My wife and I got super concerned about this when we first heard about it a few weeks ago. We even called our vet to double check that our dogs were up on their vaccinations. Our dogs go to daycare 1-2x a week, and it’s not as if the doggie daycare is just them. It’s common for them to interact with dozens of dogs a week.

      And then we realized that both our dogs probably already faced this down in the spring. They both went through a period of sneezing, followed by random eye goopiness for a few weeks. We even took our older dog to the vet to make sure she didn’t have pinkeye. They thought she did, and gave us a cream to use until symptoms cleared, so when our younger dog came down with the same eye goo, we just used that until he was cleared up.

      The headlines are way scarier than the “huh, that’s odd” reality of it.

    • heyoni@lemm.ee
      5·
      7 months ago

      This isn’t your normal seasonal flu and that vet has been investigating the disease for over a year and still doesn’t have anything definitive, hence why it’s not in the article.

      It is sensationalist cause yea, it’s not murdering your dog but it’s been going on long enough that we should have had some answers by now and don’t.

    • autumn_rain@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      7 months ago

      I don’t know why you’re getting downvoted many cats have gotten covid. It’s especially dangerous for older cats. Any animal with ACE 2 receptor can get covid. I just posted a story here about a veterinarian who is using Paxlovid on dogs with the mystery pneumonia. The vet said many of the owners had recent covid infection.The dog they treated was going to die if they didn’t try.

      • Varyk@sh.itjust.works
        4·
        7 months ago

        Thanks, I dunno either. I mentioned it a few times every time this mystery respiratory illness comes up and it’s always immediate downvotes.

        It’s funny, it’s obviously a notorious respiratory illness and we know animals can get it. Aside from lemmy, I’m more confused as to why so many articles are talking about a respiratory illness but aren’t speculating that covid, the most recent global, mutating, virulent respiratory illness, is a possible if not probable factor.

        Maybe people just really don’t want to talk about covid anymore, newswriters or lemmings?

        • autumn_rain@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          7 months ago

          I have a suspicion it’s Covid or maybe mixed with some other canine influenza. Possible it’s a brand new variant. Cats can get canine influenza too. I think the canine influenza vaccine would help especially older dogs and those with health issues. I think the canine influenza vaccine might be in short supply still.

          Asher house in Oregon got hit hard. It’s a dog sanctuary, the owner has a large tiktok following and people helped buy oxygen chambers for his dogs. Some of the dogs get acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) within a couple of days. Or they seem to get better but then they suddenly get very sick again and that’s the same thing that happened with people and covid with “happy hypoxia” and then it gets worse. Poor dogs probably get fibrosis in the lungs from the scars.