GA Dept. of Agriculture confirms increase in CIV infection in dogs

The Georgia Department of Agriculture confirms an increase in the occurrence of canine respiratory disease found in dogs known as Canine Influenza Virus or CIV infections.

Local veterinarian at Currahee Veterinary Clinic Dr. Lila Windus told WNEG news what this virus is.

“THe virus mostly affects the upper respiratory, the sinuses, the pharynx, the nose, the eyes,” said Windus. “It can cause your typical common cold symptoms in the dog, sneezing and coughing. The incubation period on it is like 2-5 days. The dogs will shed the virus when they sneeze and they just generally won’t feel good.”

Windus said that the virus spreads quicker when dogs are around a lot of other dogs.

“It might be more prevalent in the spring and summer when dogs are at dog parks when animals go to dog shows or things of that nature,” said Windus.

According to Windus, symptoms of CIV could include a number of things.

“There’s not anything that you see that and know it’s influenza,” said Windus. “The main thing is is they can have the sneezing, coughing, loss of appetite and fever and just feel bad.”

However, she said that those symptoms could mean a number of different infections, so if your dog is showing any of them to contact your vet.

Treatment for CIV is supportive care, which involves antibiotic therapy to reduce the risk of secondary infection.

Windus said that if your dog has CIV, you should disinfect as needed and if you have more than one animal, you should isolate the sick animal.