Update on Equine and Canine Influenza

The best way to protect your horses and dogs from influenza virus is to vaccinate at-risk animals, practice good hygiene, and isolate infected animals, according to Tara C. Anderson, DVM, MPH, a PhD candidate at the University of Florida.
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The best way to protect your horses and dogs from influenza virus is to vaccinate at-risk animals, practice good hygiene, and isolate infected animals, according to Tara C. Anderson, DVM, MPH, a PhD candidate at the University of Florida.

Anderson and her UF colleague, E. Paul J. Gibbs, BVSc, PhD, Fellow RCVS, wrote a review of equine and canine influenza (EIV and CIV) to "summarize influenza viruses that affect horses and dogs and highlight the importance of monitoring our companion animals for infectious diseases such as influenza."

Even though there is no evidence that people can acquire either virus from their pets, influenza viruses have shown they can mutate rapidly and jump species. Therefore, they should be included in surveillance and monitoring programs, Anderson reasoned.

In the United States EIV jumped to dogs and mutated to create a new species-specific disease–canine influenza virus. Other countries also have reported incidences of EIV virus jumping from horses to dogs; therefore it's a good idea to separate dogs and horses if there is an EIV outbreak on the farm, she warned

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