[Paywall for some] The Race to Find What’s Making America’s Dogs Sick
Hundreds of dogs across multiple states have been struck down with a severe respiratory illness. Veterinarians suspect a mystery bacteria but are still grasping for clues.
by Sassafras Lowrey
Dec 1, 2023
“Now, in the most recent outbreak, they are screening dogs with long-standing coughs and sneezes from other states that have tested negative for known respiratory diseases—including some dogs from Oregon—to hunt for the same fragment. It’s present in some of the dogs currently sick, suggesting to Needle that the DNA is associated with the emerging illness somehow, but more testing is needed to confirm that the DNA does in fact belong to a pathogen, and what it is. Needle is certain it isn’t a virus—too many genes are present. His best guess is that it’s from an unfamiliar bacteria.
"'The thing we found … it seems like it would be something that is really host-adapted and has evolved along with its host for a very long time—like thousands and thousands of years,' Needle says. This understanding is based on the type of bacteria the DNA appears to be from, and how the fragment compares to the genome of the most closely related bacteria, which are highly host-adapted. Furthering this belief is that this suspected bacteria is 'not popping up in other animals or people now.' He theorizes that, having long coexisted with dogs, the potential pathogen at some point evolved the ability to cause disease, 'either by mutating or acquiring a gene from another bacteria.' He stresses that as what they’ve found is not a previously studied type of bacteria, there is a lot to learn before any concrete answers are available.”
https://www.wired.com/story/mystery-dog-illness-bacteria-america/?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
#DogIllness #MysteryPneumonia #Dogs