A variety of common canine pathogens, none of them new, could be driving the recent outbreaks.
Scientists and health officials are scrambling to find an explanation for the outbreaks of severe respiratory illness that have been sickening dogs across the United States. Coronavirus Devices Test
Respiratory infections are not uncommon in dogs, but some veterinarians have reported a surge in very sick pets with symptoms that last an unusually long time and do not respond to treatment.
Experts have not been able to identify a clear cause, fueling concerns that a mysterious new pathogen might be stalking the nation’s dogs. That is one possibility, and a team of scientists in New Hampshire is investigating whether a newly discovered bacterium might play a role in some of these cases.
But there is little evidence that a dangerous new canine superbug is sweeping the nation, and that prospect remains unlikely, experts said.
“Current disease patterns aren’t consistent with the emergence of a new highly transmissible pathogen,” Dr. Rena Carlson, the president of the American Veterinary Medical Association, or A.V.M.A., which has been monitoring the situation, said in an email.
Although the scientific investigation is in early stages, what has become known as the mystery illness may not be all that mysterious — or even a single illness, scientists said. Instead, a variety of run-of-the-mill viruses and bacteria could be driving the current outbreaks. “We cannot know or even assume that all cases being reported have the same cause,” Dr. Carlson said.
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