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H1N1 and Animals
by Jeff Grognet, DVM, BSc (Agr) and Louise Janes, BSc(Agr), DVM
The H1N1 virus has created quite a stir and there has been a mountain of information, and even misinformation spread over the Internet in the last few weeks. Specifically, there is a lot of confusion on the role that pets play. Can they become infected? Can they pass the infection to people? Let’s look into this.
The first super flu virus we were introduced to (in our lifetimes) was avian flu, diagnosed in southeast Asia, in 1997. A worldwide pandemic was foretold. The virus kept turning up in birds, and it did spread to a few people, but the worldwide epidemic never happened.
Avian flu was caused by the H5N1 influenza virus. Its two letters stand for two proteins, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, found on the viral surface.
In 2005, a canine influenza virus, H3N8, was discovered in racing Greyhounds in Florida. The origin of H3N8 is thought to be a mutated equine virus. Like any flu virus, you can’t pick it up by eating meat from an infected animal.
H3N8 primarily triggered a mild upper respiratory disease similar to kennel cough, but a few dogs did succumb to fatal, secondary bacterial pneumonia. A canine vaccine was recently introduced in the US and is used in high risk situations.
The recent outbreak of H1N1 is called swine flu because its discovery was linked to pigs. It actually contains parts of human, pig, and bird flu viruses. The official name for the virus is now influenza A/H1N1.
Flu viruses spread between species if the host has the right viral receptors. These are found in the host’s upper respiratory tract. If the virus can “connect”, it can invade. If a species does not have the right receptors, the virus can’t infect.
These receptors mean that a virus can normally only infect one or possibly a limited number of species. Avian flu was an exception, infecting a multitude of birds as well as pigs, people, and cats. The key is that H5N1 is not easily transmissible from birds to people, and person to person movement would be a rare event.
What people want to know now is, if I’m sick with H1N1, is my pet at risk? So far, at the time of this writing, it has only moved into some pigs, ferrets, birds (turkeys in Canada), and one cat in the US. The transmission has consistently been from infected people to animals.
But, influenza viruses are known for their ability to change. Authorities will continue to monitor these viruses and who they are infecting.
For more information contact Dr. Jeff Grognet or Dr. Louise Janes at
Mid-Isle Veterinary Hospital,
5-161 Fern Road West,
Qualicum Beach, B.C.
Tel (250) 752-8969
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