pet connection

Excellent piece by Stacey Singer of the Palm Beach Post tracing the evolution of explosion of canine influenza.  Since the virus started in horses, one theory is that it jumped species because of the feeding of horsemeat to greyhounds — a practice now ended because of the cost of the meat. The grehound-racing industry’s supported veterinarian strongly and predictably discounts any suggestion that industry practices may have caused the jump of the disease:

Most greyhounds today eat beef. But in the 1980s and early
1990s, trainers straining for a competitive edge fed their dogs raw
horse meat — deemed unfit for human consumption.

It’s possible, researchers surmise, that the horse flu virus
unwittingly was fed to the dogs. Over the years, the horse virus would
have mutated and survived in canine carriers — slowly spreading to
epidemic proportions.

The unintended prize may have been the new flu strain that now
threatens an estimated 50 million to 70 million dogs in the United
States, most of them family pets. Even with veterinary care, up to 8
percent of infected animals die," said [Dr. Cynda Crawford, lead author of
the Science article, who is based at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine].

As the greyhound industry’s feeding practices draw more scrutiny, the racing industry is demanding proof.

Gary Guccione, executive director of the National Greyhound
Association in Abilene, Kan., gave an annoyed laugh when asked about
the horse meat connection. He referred questions to a scientist who
conducts sponsored research for the association, Dr. Brad Fenwick at
Virginia Tech, based in Blacksburg, Va.

Fenwick accused Crawford of advocating the horse meat theory
without data to back it up — a charge Crawford denies. The supposition
has appeared in other scientists’ articles, but without proof.

"That’s a hypothesis that’s unproven. That is pure speculation,"
Fenwick said. "Have dogs been exposed via that route? Yeah, perhaps.
But is that the vector? Hard to say."

It just as easily could have developed in stable dogs that lived around horses, he said.

Here’s the rest of the piece, which also talks about the jump from racing greyhounds to the larger population of pet dogs. My dog Woody, by the way, is a canine influenze survivor. He picked up the virus at the Houston dog show, and was saved by the veterinarians at Texas A&M’s college of veterinary medicine. They didn’t know what they were dealing with, and figured out after that he had the new flu.

Canine influenza continues to affect racing greyhounds most, according to the piece, forcing reduced racing schedules because of the limited number of healthy dogs.