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from the watching-out-for-our-best-friends dept.
The always excellent Worms and Germs blog, out of the University of Guelph, has a series of articles about the recent arrival of Asian H3N2 canine flu into North America.
As described:
In a bit of a surprising twist, research performed by Cornell University, the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the National Veterinary Services Laboratory has indicated that the large, ongoing canine flu outbreak in the Midwest US is being caused by an H3N2 influenza strain, not the expected H3N8 canine flu strain. Molecularly, the strain is closely related to H3N2 strains that are circulating in dogs in China and South Korea. H3N2 canine flu emerged in that region in the mid 2000s and is widely circulating in some areas.
It would appear that one culprit in the spread of this disease are the number of international "Rescue Societies." These groups travel to foreign countries, collect stray dogs, and bring them back to North America where they are adopted out to well-meaning families. Asia and South America are the preferred sources, although there are groups that rescue dogs in the US and haul them up to Canada.
The ultimate problem seems to be that aside from rabies there is not a lot of thought given by border agencies to managing imported pets. In fact, an awful lot of dogs are imported each year that don't even have the required rabies shots.
If over 2700 unvaccinated dogs were brought into the country, how many dogs were brought in in total? How many of the "vaccinated" dogs were really vaccinated? (Since scrutiny is limited and faking a vaccine certificate doesn’t exactly take a lot of effort.) What other pathogens might those thousands of imported dogs been carrying? Finally, why import those dogs in the first place? There’s hardly a shortage of dogs looking for homes in the US...
Here is a statement from the CDC [fixed] on the outbreak in the Chicago area.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday April 21 2015, @12:04PM
Finally, why import those dogs in the first place?
This is almost linkbait trolly. So you get transferred from Wisconsin to Minnesota, other than the local women being a little hotter nothing changes you just take ole yeller or lassie with you. Then you get transferred to the paper mill across the border in Canada and they F around with paperwork but "more or less" just take your dog with you. Its not like "Sorry kids had to go out back and shoot old yeller in the head because crossing THIS imaginary political border means we have to euthanize our pets"
I do agree that the lenient laws were designed to handle the trivial situation above, not for importing street mongrels by the container load from the other side of the planet. Which sounds a lot like an anti-immigration rant although I was writing about dogs.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 21 2015, @03:45PM
If pets from other countries are in demand, then maybe people here should just lie about the origin of the strays in the US. It isn't like the new owner would be able to ask the animal or expect paperwork for a stray from Asia or South America.
(Score: 3, Funny) by TK on Tuesday April 21 2015, @06:17PM
Sounds like a great way to trick some hipsters into buying a mutt you picked up at the pound that morning for a few grand. Give them funky names like Trans-Siberian Dachshund, make a Wikipedia page for the breed, write up a long list of instructions "specific to the breed" that consists of the basics: feed your dog, walk your dog, etc. that come with as a brochure.
Anyone want to start an artisanal pet shop?
The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum