NBC News Scientists at the University of New Hampshire may have identified a pathogen that has sickened possibly thousands of dogs and killed some of them across the country.
The mysterious respiratory illness that may have sickened scores of dogs across the country could be caused by a new type of bacterial infection that may be very good at evading the canine immune system, researchers say. Some dogs have died from the illness that starts with causes a cough that can last for weeks, runny eyes and sneezing.
In a development that might help shed light on the illness, which has affected a range of dog breeds, researchers at the University of New Hampshire’s Veterinary Diagnosis Laboratory and the Hubbard Center for Genome Studies told NBC News they have identified a pathogen that might be what’s making pets sick.
Through a genetic sequencing of samples from an initial group of 30 dogs from New Hampshire who were infected last year and then an additional 40 from Rhode Island and Massachusetts who got sick this year, the researchers say they have discovered a previously unknown germ.
The pathogen is “a funky bacterium,” said Dr. David Needle, pathology section chief at the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at the University of New Hampshire. “It’s smaller than a normal bacterium in its size and in the size of its genome. Long story short, it’s a weird bacterium that can be tough to find and sequence.”