Researchers believe they may have found the cause of a mystery respiratory illness in dogs.Photo:Getty Images
Getty Images
According toCBS News, dogs have experienced symptoms including a cough, runny eyes, sneezing, and lethargy. The illness doesn’t respond to antibiotics, per the outlet.
They say they discovered a new germ through their research, which involved “a genetic sequencing of samples” from 30 dogs from New Hampshire who were sick in 2022. They then went on to test a further 40 dogs from Rhode Island and Massachusetts who were ill this year.
The disease has been reported in states such as Oregon and New Hampshire.Getty Images
Dr. David Needle, pathology section chief at the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at the University of New Hampshire, said the pathogen is a “funky bacterium.”
“It’s smaller than a normal bacterium in its size and in the size of its genome,” he told NBC News. “Long story short, it’s a weird bacterium that can be tough to find and sequence.”
The germ “is new as a potential cause of disease, but it is likely to be — or to have evolved from — a component of the dog microbiome,” Needle added.
Symptoms of the illness include a cough, runny eyes and lethargy.Getty Images
However, according to NBC News, scientists are unclear whether the same bug is making dogs sick across the U.S.
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According to NBC News, since the beginning of August, the Oregon Agriculture Department has received more than 200 reports from veterinarians around the state.
“It’s a harsh, repetitive cough, usually worse in morning and evening or just getting up with exercise,” Dr. Sarah Marpet, a veterinarian at Country Willow Veterinary Hospital, toldCBS News New Yorkof the disease, which has seen some canines become very sick within 24-36 hours.
source: people.com
