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West Nile reported in a Dog


Amy
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A friend e-mailed me an article. Seems that a 2 1/2 year old Lab in Georgia has come down with West Nile.

 

Tried to post the link but for some reason I can't get it to come up. Will try again later if anyone is interested. My computer seems to be in one of its moods!

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Guest rtphokie

FYI...the dog was never diagnosed with WNV. This actually happened last year. The article was written by Fosters & Smith trying to sell their products. Dogs have a natural immunity to WNV, horses don't. See below for the facts.

 

Laura

 

==============================

WEST NILE VIRUS, DOG - USA (GEORGIA): NOT

************************************

A ProMED-mail post

ProMED-mail is a program of the

International Society for Infectious Diseases

 

Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2002 07:56:40 -0600

From:

 

This dog was found NOT to be infected with WNV.

 

[Communication from]:

Georgia Department of Agriculture

Tommy Irvin, Commissioner

19 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. SW

Atlanta, GA 30334

 

*******************************************************

November 1, 2001

 

Canine Exposure to West Nile Virus

 

On August 30, 2001, the Veterinary Diagnostic and Investigational

Laboratory in Tifton, Georgia received blood and serum samples for a

CBC and arbovirus profile from a 2.5 year old male Labrador Retriever

residing in southwestern Georgia. The submitting veterinarian reported

the dog had unexplained central neurological signs.

 

The serologic arbovirus profile was negative for EEE and WEE.

Serum neutralization for WNV indicated a titer of 1:16.

 

 

Treatment included broad spectrum antibiotics and supportive care.

The dog appeared to completely recover within a few days and

continues to be clinically normal.

 

A second blood sample obtained two weeks later revealed a

convalescent WNV SN titer of <=1:4. According to Dr. Sandy

Baldwin, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Director, this second,

negative titer suggests the original titer was due to a non-specific

inhibitor in the original serum and not due to WNV infection.

 

Although it has been shown that dogs may produce antibodies against

West Nile Virus, there have been no confirmed clinical cases of WNV

in dogs in the United States (in 1982 a clinical canine case was reported

in Botswana, Africa). A serosurvey of dogs near the epicenter of WNV

activity in New York in 1999 revealed 5-11% seroconversion.

However, present studies indicate dogs and cats are not at risk of

developing clinical disease from natural infections of WNV.

 

The Georgia Department of Agriculture is currently tracking

arboviruses in all species. Please report all laboratory findings and

suspicious clinical disease of WNV, EEE, WEE, or SLE by contacting

Drs. Jeff Mahany or Carter Black with the Georgia State Veterinarian's

Office at (404) 656-3667.

 

--

Bill Johnston, DVM, DACVPM

State Public Health Veterinarian

Alabama Dept. of Public Health

P.O. Box 303017

Montgomery, AL 36130-3017

(334)206-5969 FAX (334)206-5967

wjohnston@adph.state.al.us

 

[Many thanks to Bill Johnston for passing this on. It appears that

ProMED's Mod.CP was right, in his comment on the original report, in

suspecting that as the infection responded to antibiotics, it was not due

to WNV. The original report was erroneous in claiming confirmation

based on a single serum specimen. - Mod.JW]

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Thank you for taking the time to post that information.

 

West Nile has just been confirmed in Kansas City. It will be clear across the country before too long.

 

There was an article in our paper yesterday about the Vets going out to give shots to the horses. I guess there have been quite a few horses affected. They said that yearlings are very susceptible. And it takes two shots a few weeks apart to handle the infection.

 

I wonder if other hooved animals are also at risk? We have a huge deer population here. And huge pork industry.

 

 

------------------

Mary Hartman

Kansas City, MO

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