Canine respiratory illness impacting Delaware

DELAWARE – The First State is seeing an outbreak of a canine respiratory illness, known as Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex.

Due to the outbreak, the Delaware Department of Agriculture issued a restriction order on July 12th, prohibiting the transport of dogs in or out of the state for 30 days. The order can be extended beyond the initial 30 days if necessary.

Officials say the most common symptoms of this illness include coughing, sneezing, lethargy, low energy, and fever.

Sara Smith, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications with the Brandywine Valley SPCA, says they haven’t seen any extreme issues with this illness so far in their shelter, but because they are the largest animal welfare organization in the state, she says it was important to take all necessary steps to protect their population and the community.

“We took drastic measures immediately to vaccinate all of our dogs in all of our locations, all of the dogs in our foster homes, any dog in our population, and also any dog that was coming in as a stray,” Smith said.

The Brandywine Valley SPCA is now offering free canine influenza vaccines to the community. Registration is open now for the two-dose vaccination; more information can be found here.

If your pup starts showing signs of this respiratory illness, experts say you should reach out to your veterinarian immediately.