CIV causes a respiratory infection in dogs that looks like “kennel cough”. Symptoms may include nasal discharge, sneezing and frequent coughing that can last for 14 days or more. Many dogs will have a fever, decreased appetite and lethargy during the first few days of illness. Some dogs will develop more severe disease and pneumonia and require hospitalization.

Although not as common, it can cause respiratory infections in cats. Cats in shelters are the highest risk group for cats to get CIV.

CIV is spread by direct contact with a sick dog or contact with an environment or people that are contaminated with the virus. A coughing dog can transmit the virus 20 feet or more in the air.

It can survive in the environment or on people’s clothes and hands for 12–24 hours before it dies. The good news is that it is easily killed by disinfectants, handwashing with soap and water, normal laundering of clothing and bedding and washing food/water bowls and toys with soap and water.

Most dogs, yes, as they don’t have immunity to CIV. Dogs at most risk are those that participate in groups events or housed in communal facilities.

You must contact your veterinarian and get your dog tested. Diagnostic testing will rule out other pathogens, such as Bordetella, and will help guide treatment planning for your pet.

We need to isolate all the sick dogs in our facility from other dogs in the facility for 4 weeks. Unfortunately, we have sick dogs in each room currently – so all rooms will be under quarantine. Even though a dog may recover in 2 weeks, they are still contagious for another 2 weeks.

Quarantine means no dogs in and no dogs out until their infection status is known. This is why will are closing the facility to intake so that we can quarantine all the current population and not risk additional animals getting sick.

The downside to quarantine is that the quarantine time restarts every time a new dog starts coughing. This is why we are unsure of when we will reopen the facility.

Yes. A complete shutdown is the best practice for prevention of disease spread to more dogs.

The shelter will remain closed to all dogs coming in and out until the virus is eliminated from our population.

Due to the severity of disease, increased workload to test, care and treat the dogs in care, and the risk of spread of disease from the community, we have opted to close the entire building to incoming animals and people at this time. We will also be monitoring our cat population for any signs of CIV.

Since this is a viral infection, treatment is mainly supportive. Secondary bacterial infections are common and can be treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics. About 20% of infected dogs will progress to pneumonia within the first week of illness. This can be life-threatening without proper veterinary care in a hospital.

Yes. It may not completely prevent infection but will make it less likely – like human flu vaccines. Two doses of the vaccination are necessary administered 2–3 weeks apart. It will take 2 doses of the vaccination and about 5 weeks for an optimal response. This means that your dog will not be immediately protected upon the first or second vaccination.

Owners should consult with their veterinarian regarding vaccination against CIV.

Due to the community spread of CIV, we cannot put the pets that come to our Community Pet Days at risk for getting canine influenza virus. We recommend all events where unknown dogs gather to be canceled.