Question: Can Dogs Get Bird Flu?
Answer: Yes, dogs can get H5N1 bird flu, but it is not a common event. In March, 2006, a dog in Azerbaijan was the first dog reported to have died from H5N1 bird flu. The news did not report how the dog was infected, but the most likely scenario is that the dog got bird flu from eating raw infected poultry meat or blood. Learn how to Prevent Bird Flu in Dogs and Cats.
Thai Dogs With H5N1 Antibodies Dogs in Thailand have been found to have antibodies to H5N1, suggesting they had been infected with the virus and survived. Thai officials supposedly advised pet owners to feed their pets only cooked poultry meat. See Bird Flu and Tips to Cooking Poultry.
Dogs Culled in Croatia and Nigeria There have been reports of government supported culling of dogs in parts of Croatia and Nigeria. There is no other official information regarding why the culls were carried out, but many assume that government officials suspected dogs of having bird flu.
Dogs and "Horse Flu" Dogs have been known to become infected and die from H3N8 bird flu, a subtype of Influenza A that is more commonly found in horses and called horse flu. It is not known how dogs may have picked up this strain, but it seems that the virus jumped from horse to dog and then that same strain spread to other dogs. Greyhound racing dogs made up most of the H3N8 victims and mortality has been 5-8 per cent.
Cats and Bird Flu Domestic and wild cats are known to have died from bird flu. Read more in Cats and Bird Flu.
Sources:
- BBC News. See text, "Bird Flu 'Causes First Dog Flu Death'". March 15, 2006.
- Recombinomics. Bird Flu Infecting Domestic Dogs in the US?. May 13, 2005.
- K9 Magazine. Your Dog and Bird Flu.Undated.
- New Scientist. Deadly Dog Flu Jumped From Horses. September 27, 2005.