According to a paper published in the Sept. 26 issue of Science Express (Vol. 309, No. 5743), the online version of Science magazine, this is the first time an equine flu virus has been found to jump species.

The equine influenza virus, H3N8, was isolated at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine after University of Florida researchers sent fluid and tissue samples from greyhound race dogs that had died from a respiratory illness at a Florida racetrack in January 2004.

"Of all animals, dogs have the most intimate contact with humans on a daily basis, so the potential for human infection has to be in the back of our minds," said Ed Dubovi, director of the virology center at Cornell's Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory, who isolated the virus from the University of Florida samples.

Still, he added, there is no evidence of the virus jumping to humans, and there is no expectation of it doing so. It is possible the equine virus has been infecting dogs for some time, although the symptoms are very similar and could be mistaken for common "kennel cough," a bacterial disease related to pertussis (whooping cough) in children. Nevertheless, the paper cautions that the newly discovered flu virus must be closely monitored.

With close to 100 percent of dogs exposed to the virus becoming infected and about 80 percent of infected dogs showing symptoms, the flu could be spreading throughout the country. It was originally documented in greyhounds at tracks and kennels but now is infecting all breeds of dogs. Ongoing testing is being done to track the spread of the virus to different regions of the country.

"Right now, we have a major outbreak of this di
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Contact: Krishna Ramanujan
ksr32@cornell.edu
607-255-3290
Cornell University News Service
27-Sep-2005