An Informative Update
- Lisa Vaught
- May 1, 2015
- 2 min read
Hello!
Apparently the avian flu is spreading in the heartland this week. The dog flu has been more aggressive this year in the midwest. Both bear watching, but at this time unless you and your animals are directly affected, you travel with you dog (or birds?), or attend dog shows, then likely your canine is safe. Always if you ever have questions, your best resource is your local vet. He knows your dog and the local situation in regards to these viruses.
Other helpful resources are: the CDC in Atlanta, the World Health Organization and your local Health Department. These resources are available online and can offer practical advise as well as keep you up to date on any changes.
Humans and other animals have been dealing with colds, flu and other viruses for longer than we can even imagine. The advent of vaccinations are a relatively new thing considering how many thousands of years animals and humans have dealt with them.
Vaccines are great, but they only do so much. They raise antibodies to a much higher level against that particular strain of virus, making it more difficult for the virus to infect the vaccinated animal. Even if the animal that is vaccinated does catch the virus, usually they won't get as ill as they might have if they hadn't gotten a shot. At this time only pets locally affected by the canine flu are considering shots, or the special groups noted above. The poultry farmers are on top of this and following direction from their local government agencies as how to proceed and keep the avian flu from spreading.
It's rather strange to be speaking of flu this time of year. The reasons humans get their type of flu in the winter mostly is due to people naturally hanging out together during cold weather. Animals are affected as well with their forms of the flu when they congregate in dense groups, or are transported in tight places with bad ventilation.
So, that's just a bit of info for the folks here in the States, or folks traveling here. Knowlege is power.
Later...
LV, FX & JT
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