Thousands of U.S. Midwest dogs infected with Asian flu variety

By Mary Wisniewski CHICAGO (Reuters) - A new strain of dog flu from Asia that started infecting pets in Chicago this January has spread to thousands of dogs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana and killed six, animal health officials said. The canine influenza virus (CIV) currently affecting dogs in the Midwest is a strain known as H3N2, according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cornell University. Symptoms of the flu include a persistent cough, runny nose, lack of appetite and fever. It is not known how the H3N2 strain was introduced into Chicago but it could have been a dog from Asia who was a carrier and did not have active symptoms, said Keith Poulsen, diagnostic and case outreach coordinator with the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.



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