What You Should Know About The Potentially Fatal Illness Affecting Dogs In LA County

At least 10 dogs in L.A. County have been infected with a potentially fatal, sudden respiratory illness, prompting warnings from public health officials.

The illness is currently known as Atypical Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease (aCIRD), but officials don’t know what’s causing it.

The local cases are similar to reports in other states, including Colorado, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

What symptoms should owners look out for?

You should be on the lookout for any of these new symptoms in your dog:

• cough 
• sneezing
• nasal discharge
• lack of energy
• chronic mild-moderate respiratory infection that lasts more than six weeks and is minimally or not responsive to antibiotics
• chronic pneumonia that is minimally or not responsive to antibiotics
• acute pneumonia that rapidly becomes severe

Why is this illness different?

The director of the L.A. County Veterinary Public Health Program, Karen Ehnert, told LAist this illness looks a lot like a regular kennel cough case, except it lasts a longer and antibiotics don’t seem to be effective.

“Dogs can cough for six to eight weeks or even longer, and then some dogs get sick very quickly, and within two days they have severe pneumonia and may even die from it,” she said.

When the sick dogs are tested for all the usual viruses and bacteria that cause kennel cough, everything comes up negative, Ehnert noted.

What do I do if my dog starts showing symptoms?

If your dog starts coughing, take it to the vet right away. The illness can make some dogs very sick, very quickly. Ehnert said some can die within two days.

“Don't think, 'Oh, let's wait and see a few days on how it goes,' because if it's one of those acute pneumonia cases, it may be too late by the time you take your pet in,” she said.

You should also talk to your vet before you show up to their office. Your dog should not be sitting in the waiting room, possibly exposing other pets, Ehnert said.

Once a vet examines your dog, they will talk to you about running tests and X-rays to see what bacteria or virus might be behind the symptoms. Those tests can be quite expensive, Ehnert noted, so a vet may end up prescribing antibiotics just in case it is one of the bacterial infections that cause kennel cough.

If your dog continues to cough and have trouble breathing, bring them back to the vet for more tests. Ehnert said at this point, it’s about treating the symptoms of the illness and hoping the antibiotics will work.

What steps can I take to keep my dog safe?

Officials don’t yet know how the illness is spreading, but Ehnert said they believe it spreads like a regular respiratory infection through aerosols and contaminated objects. That means the illness could be passed between dogs who share bowls or toys at the park and daycare.

If you’re going to take your dog into a setting where they’ll be socializing, make sure the other dogs are healthy too, Erhnert warned.

“We all lived through COVID and the pandemic, and so a lot of what we learn there goes over to pets and their health too,” she said.

So if they’ll be in doggy daycare over the holidays, the facility should be checking each dog and excluding any that are coughing or showing other symptoms. And always allow the facility to take your dog to a veterinarian if it gets sick while in their care, Ehnert added. That way your pet can be examined quickly and given treatment as soon as possible.

If you’re going to a dog park, it’s best to bring your own bowls and toys. Ehnert recommends not allowing your dog to pick up a ball another pup has been playing with to reduce their chance of being exposed to the illness.

You should also make sure your dog is up-to-date on immunizations, Ehnert said.

When did it start showing up in L.A. County?

The Veterinary Public Health Program started receiving potential reports about the illness in September. However, the dogs weren’t tested for different diseases so they couldn’t confirm it, Erhnert said.

Last week, a vet reported seeing multiple dogs, including two that died, that had been negative on all of the typical tests.

Officials have since sent out an alert to local vets to ask for more case reports. Now, they’re trying to figure out how widespread the unidentified illness in L.A. County.

Ehnert noted that they haven’t heard of any outbreaks yet, and the cases are spread all over the county.