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A rare disease that infects dogs has been confirmed in Sheridan County
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3 years agoon
The Sheridan Dog and Cat Shelter has confirmed the presence of a rare disease in dogs that causes infertility and miscarriages with few other signs of illness.
When a pregnant dog named Tulip was turned over to the Dog and Cat Shelter, staff looked forward to helping her give birth to new puppies. But in a heartbreaking turn of events, Tulip’s litter were all stillbirths.
As a precautionary measure, Dog and Cat Shelter veterinarian Dr. Karen Serres sent a sample to the state epidemiologist. The sample came back as positive for canine brucellosis.
According to VCM Hospital’s website, canine brucellosis is a contagious bacterial infection caused by the bacterium, Brucella canis (B. canis). This bacterial infection is highly contagious between dogs. Infected dogs usually develop an infection of the reproductive system, or a sexually transmitted disease.
According to shelter director Jill Moriarty, the disease is rare and found primarily in low-income areas where dogs may not receive a lot of veterinarian care. But staff had to be surveyed by the epidemiologist because there have been 31 cases of the disease spreading to humans in the US.
Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease, or a disease that can be transmitted from animals to humans. Although people can become infected by coming in contact with infected animals, it is uncommon for a person to get a brucellosis infection from a dog.
Staff that cared for Tulip and cleaned up after her are now taking precautionary medications for the next few months. After testing every dog in the facility for the disease, a protocol has been adopted at the shelter to test every dog that is brought into the shelter from those areas, Moriarty said.
During an appearance on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse, Moriarty told listeners of the symptoms associated with canine brucellosis.
For more information on canine brucellosis, click here.
Andrea L Hairston
October 27, 2021 at 12:55 pm
Thanks for the work you do for all pets. Is the a vax for dogs available?
Jill Moriarty
October 28, 2021 at 5:12 pm
Hi Andrea,
I don’t think there is a vaccination but I will ask our Veterinarian. Great question! We decided to test because if they’re negative they’ll stay negative once they leave the Shelter because they’ll be spayed or neutered. This is basically a sexually transmitted disease that is transferred from a male to a female. That’s the only way a dog can get it.
Dr. Joni L. Freshman DVM MS DACVIM
October 29, 2021 at 5:15 pm
I would like to correct the assumption that breeding is the only way that dogs can transmit Brucella canis. Any bodily fluid of the infected dog is infectious to other dogs and at-risk humans via contact with any mucous membrane or open wound (nasal, oral, conjunctiva, and, yes, breeding dogs). Infectious fluids include saliva, nasal secretions, tears, blood, and urine as well as vulvar discharge and semen. While most healthy adults will not develop more signs than a mild flu, it can be serious and even fatal to at-risk humans: children, the elderly, pregnant women, and immune-suppressed individuals. Dogs are NEVER cured from B canis-they are infected for life and must either be euthanized or housed in quarantine on premises they never leave and with no other dog or at risk human contact and be treated and monitored for life. This disease is underdiagnosed in dogs and widely spread across North America. I consult on infected dogs very frequently in my course of work as a consultant for a large veterinary lab and online veterinary learning community. I take this disease and its transmission very seriously.