Source: NY Times, 25 Sep 2005 [edited]

Virulent Dog Virus Hits Area Kennels
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A new strain of influenza that began infecting dogs in Florida early last
year [2004] has recently struck hard in the Westchester area, forcing the
temporary closure of 2 kennels, after more than 100 dogs being boarded
there became ill, veterinary officials say.

At least one of the dogs has since died. The 2 sites, Gracelane Kennels in
Ossining and a branch of Best Friends Pet Care in Chestnut Ridge in
Rockland County, have undergone decontamination procedures.

Local veterinarians with experience in treating flu-infected dogs are
advising owners to be judicious about boarding their pets in the near
future and resist taking them to crowded day care and grooming facilities,
dog parks or anywhere else that animals can come into close contact with
one another.

"I've been telling any client of mine who boards their dog to be very
careful," said Russell Katz, a Pelham veterinarian, who added that he
believes he has treated at least 5 dogs with signs of canine influenza
virus.

The symptoms mimic those of bordetella, a less virulent illness commonly
known as kennel cough, for which all dogs must be vaccinated before they
are boarded. Health officials fear that this similarity has contributed to
under reporting of the spread of the new illness, both locally and
nationally.

There is not yet any vaccine for the new virus, which is believed to have
jumped from horses to dogs last year [2004]. Nor has it yet been officially
named or detailed in the scientific literature. At this point, diagnosis
can be confirmed only through blood tests performed at the Cornell
University College of Veterinary Medicine, and results take as long as 2
weeks.

Dr. Katz suggested that, before taking pets to grooming parlors or dog
playgrounds, owners "ask questions of other owners about whether the dog
has been kenneled." But he admitted that even such extreme caution might
ultimately be pointless, as dogs do not yet have any natural immunity to
this illness. "It will be really impossible for anyone to have a normal
life with a dog and avoid any contact with this virus," he said.

In his own practice, Dr. Katz added, any dogs with a cough will be made to
wait outside the waiting room or in a far corner of it. He plans to move
them quickly into a treatment area and afterward to make sure that any
surface they have touched is treated with bleach to minimize the
possibility of exposure.

The researcher who 1st isolated the virus in greyhounds, Cynda Crawford, is
a veterinary immunologist at the University of Florida College of
Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville. She had been reluctant to talk about
the disease, pending publication of a scientific paper on the topic, she
said, but relented last week [3rd week September 2005], because not doing
so was bothering her. "This is a new, emerging respiratory pathogen in
dogs," Dr. Crawford said, "and it is my job is to inform veterinarians of
the threat." Her ultimate goal, she said, "is to alleviate fear and panic
among dog owners."

But that may be not be so simple. About 80 percent of dogs infected with
the disease will show symptoms, Dr. Crawford predicted. These include "a
moist, productive cough that ends in a gagging response that will persist
for one to 4 weeks, despite treatment with antibiotics or cough
suppressants." Although antibiotics have no effect on the virus itself,
they may prevent secondary bacterial infections. "Some dogs develop a
thick, yellow discharge from the nose," she added. "A very few dogs will
spike a high fever, between 105 to 107 F. They become lethargic and weak
with rapid, shallow breathing. This is likely to progress to pneumonia,"
which is where antibiotic treatment can help. As many as 10 percent of dogs
will die of the disease, she believes. Bordetella, by contrast, is rarely
fatal among adult dogs.

About 35 dogs boarding at Gracelane Kennels in Ossining appear to have
contracted the virus in late July 2005, according to the facility's owner,
Bob Gatti. As a result, he said, all 3 kennel buildings were closed during
August, his peak boarding season. He says he lost about USD 35 000 in
revenue, with boarding fees for about 90 dogs a day, and spent at least USD
1500 on disinfectants and on paint for the interior partitions and floors
of his combination indoor-outdoor kennel. Although he said he did
everything possible to kill any leftover virus, Mr. Gatti acknowledged that
"it's not foolproof. I don't know if there's any kennel than can stop an
airborne virus," he said, adding that he would refuse to board any dogs
that exhibit symptoms and would get them out of the building as quickly as
possible. Mr. Gatti estimates that he has spent USD 2000 on veterinary
bills and antibiotics to treat dogs taken ill while boarding with him.

Glenn M. Zeitz, an Ossining veterinarian, says he has treated about 25 dogs
infected with the virus, some from Gracelane, some from a nearby dog park,
and at least one from another kennel, which he refused to identify. 2 of
the 25 have died; Mr. Gatti says neither of them were from his kennel.

The virus has also struck the Best Friends Pet Care facility in Chestnut
Ridge, sickening 88 dogs, about 15 percent of which required
hospitalization, according to Debra Bennetts, a spokeswoman for Best
Friends, a chain based in Norwalk, Connecticut with 42 locations in 18
states.

The facility was emptied of animals by 17 Sep 2005, she noted, and the
staff has since begun decontamination. The company is mailing information
about the new virus to 1200 veterinarians who practice near the locations
of the other 41 Best Friend facilities, Ms. Bennetts said.

The company's consulting veterinarian, Larry J. Nieman of Norwalk, has also
sent a copy of an advisory notice, titled "Canine Influenza Virus Detected
in Dogs in New York State," to 100 veterinarians in Westchester, Rockland
and northern New Jersey. The statement was originally released by the State
Division of Animal Industry on 9 Sep 2005, Ms. Bennetts said.

Last week [3rd week September 2005], the company began to clean the
circulation system in Chestnut Ridge, replacing air conditioning filters,
among other things, "to ensure there is no latent virus," said Ms.
Bennetts. The kennel will not reopen until early October 2005. However, as
the scare was developing, on 8 Sep 2005, the company opened a new branch in
White Plains for pet boarding, training and day care.

As for what became of the infected dogs, about 17 of those that fell ill at
Best Friends were treated at the Oradell Animal Hospital, in Paramus, N.J.,
where one died and 2 were still hospitalized last week [3rd week September
2005], according to Kristi Gannon, one of 42 full-time staff veterinarians.

The cost of treating a dog can range from about USD 100, for antibiotic
protection, to as much as USD 6000, if pneumonia develops, Dr. Nieman said.
Owners whose pets got sick at Best Friends paid expenses themselves, the
doctor said, because the illness was "not caused by the kennel; it's caused
by the kenneling of patients."

Kennel owners who have heard about the canine flu outbreak are alarmed by
the news, in part because their businesses rely on a reputation for dog
safety.

Karen Montgomery, manager of Canine Companions, a Pleasantville day care
and boarding facility that has not had any cases of the illness,
immediately began calling regular clients to warn them. One owner, she
said, came to remove a dog from the premises. "I'm passing out the New York
State advisory to all our clients to give them a heads up," Ms. Montgomery
said, adding that "dog owners are concerned and have been asking about
getting a vaccine for the disease."

Scott Berry, 40, who left his German shepherd, Hannah, at the new Best
Friends facility in White Plains last week [3rd week September 2005], was
unnerved by the thought that she could contract a virus. An engineer from
Colorado Springs who is in Westchester on business, Mr. Berry said that he
had never boarded his dog before and that, with this current scare, he
might never do so again. That is not good news for kennels like Best
Friends Pet Care.

After the Chestnut Ridge location is decontaminated, "we're optimistic we
won't see the virus again in that facility," Dr. Nieman said. "But that's
just optimism."

[Byline: Carin Rubenstein Ossining]

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