- GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) --
Eight Jacksonville racing greyhounds were killed by an equine influenza
virus that jumped the species barrier from horses to dogs, University of
Florida researchers announced Thursday.
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- The researchers said their findings involve only the
Jacksonville dogs, but they will investigate possible connections to similar
disease outbreaks that have affected racing dogs in Florida and elsewhere
in recent years. The deaths occurred in January.
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- "I want to stress that our team's findings are preliminary
and confined to the dogs affected by the outbreak at one Florida track,
an outbreak that occurred three months ago and was contained through a
voluntary statewide quarantine, which is no longer in effect," said
Cynda Crawford, a UF veterinary immunologist.
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- Her findings are the result of a team effort involving
virologists from Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine in
Ithaca, N.Y., and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in
Atlanta.
-
- "There is absolutely no evidence to suggest that
these findings extend beyond the group of dogs affected during that period
of time, or that it poses any significant threat to people or their pets,"
Dr. Crawford said.
-
- She said blood samples were collected from two additional
dog populations in Florida and all tested negative for equine influenza
virus.
-
- Equine influenza is in the same group of viruses that
cause flu in people. Horses infected with the virus usually recover in
two to three weeks.
-
- When Dr. Crawford learned of an outbreak in 24 dogs in
January, she visited the Jacksonville track. The dogs were affected with
symptoms that included coughs and fevers. Sixteen dogs recovered.
-
- She collected blood and nasal fluid samples from 35 dogs.
Five of the dogs that died underwent post-mortem examinations at UF. She
sent samples for analysis to Ed Dubovi, director of the virology section
at Cornell's Animal Health Diagnostic Lab, who was able to isolate the
virus.
-
- Using genetic sequencing, the CDC concluded the virus
found in the dog samples resembled a strain of equine influenza that appeared
in horses in Wisconsin last year.
-
- Researchers said they have no idea how the greyhounds
could have been exposed to the equine influenza virus.
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