Wood River Valley veterinary clinics reported over the last week that they have not confirmed any cases of a mysterious dog sickness that can cause coughing, lethargy and pneumonia.
Receptionists at Bellevue’s Sawtooth Animal Center and Ketchum’s Sun Valley Animal Center said in calls with the Express on Jan. 19 and 22, respectively, that the two clinics have yet to see any cases of the illness, which began popping up in U.S. states near the end of 2023.
Experts aren’t yet sure what causes the illness, which doesn’t respond to common treatments for other canine respiratory sicknesses such as kennel cough. Symptoms can last for four to six weeks, Reuters reported in December, and some severe cases have advanced to pneumonia in less than 36 hours. Cases were especially common in Oregon and Colorado at the end of the year, according to a November memo from the California Veterinary Medical Association. Oregon reported more than 200 cases between the middle of August and Nov. 16, the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) said.
A receptionist at Ketchum’s St. Francis Pet Clinic told the Express on Jan. 22 that the clinic can’t definitively say whether or not it has seen any cases of the illness because there isn’t a specific test for it. But the clinic hasn’t seen a larger number of kennel cough cases than usual.
Symptoms of the unidentified illness include coughing, sneezing, labored breathing, nose or eye discharge, lethargy and decreased appetite. The St. Francis clinic said the cough usually comes first, followed by runny noses and goopy eyes, then lethargy and loss of appetite.
St. Francis and Sun Valley Animal Center said pet owners should keep their dogs up to date on all vaccines, including vaccines for bordetella and influenza. Sun Valley Animal Center recommended avoiding settings with high dog traffic, like parks. The St. Francis clinic recommended that owners isolate their dog immediately if the dog shows symptoms of the illness.
Though vets haven’t identified the cause of the illness, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an entirely new bug, according to a December report by NPR’s Will Stone. It could be what one infectious disease veterinarian described as a “pathogen soup,” Stone reported, a mixture of infections sickening dogs at the same time.
While experts sleuth for the cause, pet owners should use common-sense caution without panicking, experts and national news outlets reported. 
