State investigates virus that killed 4 Ohio dogs

Staff/wire report

COLUMBUS

The state’s Department of Agriculture is investigating whether four Ohio dogs had the same illness before dying and whether that disease was caused by a newly detected virus.

The Columbus Dispatch reports the department Friday asked veterinarians in the state to watch for symptoms of vomiting, bloody diarrhea, weight loss and lethargy.

Dr. Robert Reynolds of South Mill Pet Care Inc. in Boardman and Doctors Park Veterinary Clinic in Canfield said he hasn’t seen any dogs with the illness and isn’t aware of any local cases.

“Animals die suddenly all the time, but not from something like this,” he said.

It’s usually because a tumor ruptures, causing internal bleeding.

There are many reasons for gastric upset and diarrhea in animals, but this virus attacks blood vessels in the body, causing vasculitis, inflammation of the vessels. When the heart pumps blood, rather than going to a particular part of the body, it leaks out of the body.

In the reported cases, the dogs have died within 48 hours.

Though vomiting has many causes, Dr. Reynolds said dog owners should be concerned if their pet also is lethargic and perhaps has been in an area around strange dogs.

“If they’re vomiting and then running around, they’re probably fine,” he said. “These animals probably are acting sick even before they’re vomiting.”

The best course is to take the animal to a veterinarian, he said. Because it’s a fast-acting virus, the owner of a dog exhibiting severe symptoms after vets’ offices are closed should call an emergency veterinary hospital to seek advice.

An agriculture department spokeswoman says it is unknown where the virus comes from and how it spreads. A fecal sample from one of the dead dogs tested positive for canine circovirus, a newly isolated virus.

A spokeswoman for the Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center says the center performed a necropsy on another one of the dogs but couldn’t determine a cause of death. The center has given the department samples from the dog for further testing.