A mysterious, potentially fatal respiratory illness that doesn't respond to antibiotics is reportedly spreading among dogs in the United States, according to CBS News.
Oregon, Colorado and New Hampshire among states reporting cases of the illness, which resulted in lasting respiratory disease and pneumonia. Symptoms include coughing, sneezing, nasal or eye discharge and lethargy, with pneumonia progress reported to within 24 to 36 hours in some cases.
"Unfortunately, right now, nobody knows what it is," veterinarian Dr. Mike Hutchinson told CBS News Pittsburgh. "When that happens, you should see your veterinarian because we're going to treat those symptoms. And for viruses, there's really no good anti-viral on the market. However, we can support the symptoms sometimes by nebulizing them or giving them some support, fluids, things that they need."
More than 200 cases of the diseases have been reported by the Oregon Department of Agriculture since mid-August. The agency encouraged dog owners to contact their veterinarian if their pet showed symptoms and advised state veterinarians to report cases as soon as possible.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture confirmed that it was working with state researchers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory during ongoing efforts to pinpoint the cause of the illness. Kurt Williams, director of the Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Oregon State University, told the Associated Press that dogs have died in relation to the illness, but it's difficult to determine how many deaths were caused by the severe form of the disease.