Owners told to watch out for wounds
Dog owners are being urged to remain vigilant of anything their animal eats, chews or picks up while out walking, after a spate of mysterious deaths across Britain.
The Forestry Commission is putting up signs in the New Forest where many – but not all – of the infections have occurred.
They are urging dog walkers to look out for any wounds appearing on their animal – and if spotted to take to their veterinary practice straight away.
One surgery – Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists in Hursley, Winchester – has treated eight cases already. Only three of the dogs survived. There has also been at least a further eight cases reported at other surgeries, some other parts of the country.
David Walker, head of internal medicine at Anderson Moores said: "It all started happening in December 2012. Through to March 2013 we saw six dogs that had skin wounds and kidney failure.
"We usually see a case of sudden on-set of kidney failure maybe once a month. What was unusual with these dogs was the skin wounds.
"We put out some information to the veterinary sector and became aware of at least another eight cases. Then in the past month we have had another two.
"Only three of the dogs survived so we are dealing with a disease that has a high mortality rate.
"When we looked at the kidneys under a microscope there were some quite unusual findings. They were similar to those found in a group of greyhounds in America the 1980s who had what was colloquially called Alabama Rot, and similar to a human disease called Hemolytic-uremic syndrome.
"Particularly in people it is caused by toxin from ecoli bacteria. We haven't found ecoli toxin in these dogs. A proportion of people don't have ecoli as the underlying cause.
"We don't yet know what that underlying cause is. We also don't know yet what the trigger for the disease is.
"We did not see any cases between April and November. The message we are trying to get across is that it is only a small proportion of the dogs being walked that are becoming infected. Owners should remain vigilant."
A Forestry Commission spokesman said comparisons with Alabama Rot were "A little misleading."
"The symptoms are similar to those seen in this disease in America. But the underlying cause is still unknown," he said.
A statement from the Forest Commission said: "Dog owners are advised to look out for wounds or lesions on the limbs or face of their dog which will not heal.
"Affected dogs then go on to develop signs of severe depression, loss of appetite and vomiting, quickly accompanied by acute injury to the kidneys.
"The reported cases represent an extremely small proportion of the many hundreds of dogs that are exercised in the New Forest every day and it is likely that this syndrome is extremely rare."
If you are a dog owner and believe your dog has been affected, please direct your enquiries to Forest Veterinary Clinic on 01425 652221 or by emailing: forestvetfb@btconnect.com.
If you are a vet, please direct your enquiries to Anderson Moores on 01962 76792 or by emailing info@andersonmoores.com."
Visit: forestry.gov.uk/newforest
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