Quote:Mystery illness striking dogs may finally be identified
Dogs across the US are being sickened and killed by a mystery illness that veterinarians cannot identify or cure.
But now, researchers believe they may have finally identified what’s causing the respiratory disease, which has caused the deaths of numerous dogs nationwide.
The culprit is “a funky bacterium,” Dr. David Needle, pathology section chief at the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at the University of New Hampshire, told NBC News.
“It’s smaller than a normal bacterium in its size and in the size of its genome,” he said.
Its small size might allow it to evade a dog’s immune defenses in the upper respiratory tract and get down into the lungs.
“Long story short, it’s a weird bacterium that can be tough to find and sequence,” Needle added.
NY Post
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
~ Erin Hunter
