An animal shelter in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, temporarily shut down after dozens of dogs contracted canine influenza.
Blue Chip Farm Animal Refuge, home not simply to dogs but additionally cats, rabbits, horses, goats and pigs, needed to suspend its operations because of a virus outbreak infecting dogs, in response to ABC affiliate WNEP-TV.
“A number of of our dogs began to get diarrhea, but that is pretty normal for dogs which can be in a latest stressful environment. When our longer-term dogs began to get diarrhea and commenced not wanting to eat, we realized they weren’t themselves, that is after we knew something was flawed,” shelter volunteer Emma Ripka told the outlet.
Shelter staff said the virus has already infected at the very least 25% of their 40 dogs at the power. Ripka explained that they shut right down to prevent the disease from spreading.
“In order that’s why we’re trying our greatest by closing down for a bit of bit to stop the spread in order that it’s only in certain areas, and it doesn’t go any further,” she said.
In a Facebook post, the shelter stated that humans couldn’t contract the virus. Nevertheless, they might bring it home and infect their pets, causing the disease to spread.
“It isn’t just in shelters. Neighborhoods can pass it around from dog to dog. Really be attentive to your pet, in the event that they’re acting different than normal, in the event that they have any GI issues or upper respiratory issues, definitely get them to the vet as soon as possible just to envision out their symptoms,” Ripka added.
It’s not only the Luzerne County facility that got hit by the virus. Rescue employees said other shelters across the country are experiencing the identical situation.
Not too removed from Luzerne, the Speranza Animal Shelter in Cumberland County also got into crisis mode when all 50 of its dogs got sick at the identical time.
The power initially thought it was because of canine influenza, so it sent out samples for testing. In a social media update, the shelter revealed that not one of the dogs tested positive for canine influenza. Nevertheless, they tested positive for Streptococcus zooepidemicus — bacteria that might be passed from animal to animal but to not humans.
In accordance with Speranza, the disease began spreading when a rescue dog from a Philadelphia shelter was brought in recently. The pooch didn’t show signs of illness when it arrived, however it got sick last weekend.
“It just began with two dogs coughing, after which all inside like three or 4 days, everyone went downhill. In all 11 years, I’ve never had something this bad. We do our greatest, all shelters and rescues do their best, but sometimes it just happens,” Speranza president and founder Janine Guido told ABC27.
Speranza was notified Wednesday about an influenza outbreak within the Philadelphia shelter where the dog got here from. At the least three dogs from the Cumberland County facility were hospitalized amid the outbreak. But they’ve since returned to the rescue.