Avoid Dog Parks As Canine Flu Spreads: MN Animal Board

MINNESOTA — The Minnesota Board of Animal Health on Wednesday released new guidance for dog owners, shelters, and veterinarians as cases of the contagious canine influenza continue to rise.

Officials say to avoid dog parks and keep your dog six feet apart from other dogs when in public.

On April 6, the agency quarantined an organization operating animal shelters in Hennepin, Anoka, and Washington Counties after it reported four confirmed cases and 196 suspected cases at its facilities.

Four more cases outside of the original outbreak have been confirmed since then.

Animal health officials say there are strong indicators of community spread of canine influenza in the Twin Cities metro area, and the board has been "inundated" with calls from veterinarians on suspected cases of canine influenza.

"Unfortunately, testing for canine influenza is cost prohibitive for many dog owners, and we aren’t receiving as many confirmed positive results as the numbers of sick dogs veterinarians are reporting at their clinics," said Dr. Veronica Bartsch, a senior veterinarian with the state.

"If a dog is symptomatic and an owner elects not to test or a test comes back negative, we’re still encouraging veterinarians to treat and advise patients for canine influenza out of an abundance of caution."

Symptoms of canine influenza include coughing, runny eyes or nose, hard swallowing or throat clearing, fever, and lethargy. The symptoms can often appear suddenly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no evidence that canine influenza can spread to humans.

During the outbreak, the Minnesota Board of Animal Health Board suggested the following precautions:

Dog owners

• Avoid direct dog-to-dog contact with dogs outside of your household or dogs known to have been boarded, attended dog day-care, or visited a dog park in the last seven days.
• If your dog is sick, keep them at home, away from other animals, and call your veterinarian.
• Consider avoiding dog parks and other locations with uncontrolled dog-to-dog contact.
• Keep your distance (six feet) at places where dogs congregate like dog parks and while on walks with your dog.
• Canine influenza can also spread via contaminated surfaces, including skin and clothing. If your dog is sick or you have contact with dogs outside of your household, wash your hands and change clothes before interacting with other animals.

Dog day-cares, kennels, and shelters

• Direct staff to be on alert for clinical signs.
• Immediately separate symptomatic dogs from others and contact your veterinarian.
• Any dog showing signs of respiratory disease should be immediately sent home and not allowed to return to the facility for 30 days. Even a dog that appears to have recovered can continue to shed infectious virus for 30 days.
• Increase cleaning and disinfection measures and frequency. Advise staff to wash hands and clean their clothes between dog interactions.
• Consider reducing the number of dogs in playgroups and keeping group membership consistent.
• Screen new arrivals for upper respiratory symptoms.

Veterinarians

• Report positive canine influenza test results to the Board via our online case report form. Once the Board receives a case report, our agents conduct all follow-up investigations and quarantine procedures with your client.
• Treat symptomatic patients with caution and advise a 30-day in-home quarantine even without a positive influenza test.
• Practice good biosecurity in the clinic. Isolate dogs with respiratory illness and thoroughly clean and disinfect surfaces and instruments used during the exam. Wear full PPE when treating these patients.