Sick wildlife threatens local dogs

ALACHUA COUNTY – An increase in canine distemper infection in wildlife has veterinarians worried about a recurrence of an outbreak that killed more than 600 dogs in Alachua County three years ago.

A sudden increase in residents reporting raccoons and foxes seen during daylight hours with neurologic signs alerted animal control officers to the problem. After rabies tests came back negative, Alachua County Animal Services director David Flagler called in experts from the University of Florida for help.

“We tested 5 sick raccoons and 1 fox, and all of them came back positive for canine distemper” said University of Florida veterinarian Julie Levy. “This is frightening because distemper is extremely infectious to dogs and has a high fatality rate.”

Infected raccoons are a frequent source of spread to susceptible dogs. When infected dogs are brought into intensive dog housing facilities such as animal shelters, the disease can spread throughout the facility, especially among vulnerable populations such as puppies. Recent outbreaks of distemper in Orange County, Brevard County, and Pasco County have killed hundreds of dogs that were not current on vaccinations.

“So far, we have not seen any evidence of transmission to dogs in our shelter,” said shelter veterinarian Randy Caligiuri. “The staff remembers the outbreak in 2007 and is very careful to vaccinate all dogs at admission and to avoid any contamination from the sick wildlife.”

Canine distemper is a virus that affects both domestic and wild canid species, ferrets, and raccoons. The virus attacks the respiratory, intestinal, and neurological systems. The most common signs of infection are discharge from the eyes and nose, coughing, staggering, or seizures.

Distemper is easily prevented by vaccination, so all dog and ferret owners should check with their veterinarians to be sure their pets are up to date on their vaccines. Once a dog is infected with the virus there is no effective treatment and mortality can exceed 50 percent.

Maddies’s Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida has developed guidelines to help animal shelters and pet rescue groups to protect their dogs against distemper. For more information about distemper virus infection see www.ufsheltermedicine.com.