http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/634517.html Dog Flu Risk Highest Where Canines Mingle
New vaccine could minimize severity, experts say
By Maryann Mott
HealthDay Reporter
SUNDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Nowadays, even Fido fears the flu.
The highly contagious respiratory infection targets dogs of any breed and age in any season, killing up to 2 percent of its victims.
Last July, the first influenza vaccine for dogs received a one-year conditional license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and became available nationwide. The vaccine, made from a killed virus, doesn't prevent infection, but was shown in clinical trials to reduce the duration of coughing and viral shedding so that dogs are less contagious.
"So far, it performs about as well as the vaccines that we give to people, and horses and pigs," Crawford said.
