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An outbreak of dog flu has struck some of America's best friends this winter. Veterinarians across America, including Philadelphia, North Texas, California and Florida are warning of a brutal canine influenza season. The dog flu can be severe in some cases, causing pneumonia and even death in pets. Around one-in-ten cases result in death. It spreads from animal to animal by barking, sneezing, and coughing through droplets in the air. Some kennels and doggy daycares have shut down temporarily or significantly ramped up cleaning protocols in response, and vets advise pet owners to get the canine flu vaccine. Humans are...

Dog flu can be added to New York City's list of concerns. The U.S. has been in the grip of canine influenza and now it appears to have made it to Brooklyn, with at least 14 dogs testing positive to the H3N2 strain, WNYW Fox5NY.com reported.

“When you’re out-and-out socializing, going for a walk in the neighborhood, that sort of thing, it would be so easy to pick it up from another dog,” Russell said. Although, Russell says it can be difficult to know if your dog has the flu. “It’s so similar to just your common bordetella, kennel cough,” Russell said. There is a difference in how long it lasts. Russell says it can be weeks and sometimes fatal. The virus can last for weeks and potentially turn into pneumonia. “Early on they may be running a fever, which is unusual for just a regular...

A canine flu outbreak has sickened many dogs in the Midwest, and veterinarians are cautioning pet owners to keep their dogs from going nose-to-nose with other four-legged friends. The University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Veterinary Medicine says the virus has sickened at least 1,000 dogs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio and Indiana, and some veterinarians worry it could easily spread to other areas of the country. Recent tests from the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory have identified the strain as H3N2. Clinical assistant professor Keith Poulsen says it's not yet known how effective current vaccines are against this strain, which is believed...

Many urbanites use doggie day cares while they work long hours. Paying others to exercise their pets, owners can forgo long walks and enjoy guilt-free pooch snuggling in the evenings. While usually a healthy experience for the dogs, the day care environment, with dozens of pets mingling, contributed to an epidemic of dog flu in Chicago that is spreading in the Midwest, experts say.

Have you heard about the brand new H3N2 dog flu sweeping through Chicago and sickening and killing dogs? It may actually be worse than you think: round-the-clock testing has unveiled that this heretofore unknown canine influenza was originally an avian flu that made a “mammalian adaptation” and has been infecting dogs and cats in Asia since 2007. Now it is here in the epicenter of the U.S. Will it sweep across the country and endanger dogs everywhere? Will this deadly flu become like the bird flu in Asia and the swine flu in England, both of which did transform into...

In addition to spreading from dog to dog, canines can also catch it from humans, who may have come into contact with infected animals. To date the illness has not yet sickened any people. According to Discovery News, symptoms in dogs can include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite and a respiratory infection that may last a few weeks. One to five percent of victims die from related hemorrhagic pneumonia.......

FISHERSVILLE — Dog influenza has come to the Shenandoah Valley. An Augusta County veterinarian last week confirmed the first area case of canine influenza, H3N8, a virus informally documented by the Virginia Veterinarian Medicine Association only six times in state history. “We knew it was coming,” Cedarcrest Animal Clinic veterinarian William Olkowski said Friday. Considered a horse virus until late 2003, H3N8 mutated and began to spread among dogs, Olkowski said. The local confirmation is not cause for alarm, he said, but vaccination is recommended for some dogs. Owners of dogs that come into contact with other dogs at shows,...