Warning for a contagious dog virus in parks in South Florida

If you have dogs and are in South Florida, be extra vigilant. There is a highly contagious virus that has prompted local authorities to take immediate action. As reported by the Miami Dade County Animal Service Agency, this is the CIRDC (Canine Infectious Respiratory Diseases Complex), a collection of viruses and bacteria that cause complications in the animals' respiratory system.

Through the social network Twitter, the government agency gave details about the CIRDC, indicating that it is “a highly contagious disease that causes severe or chronic inflammation in the upper respiratory system.”

The first thing to do if you have a dog in this region is to watch for symptoms that include coughing with or without blood, runny nose, watery eyes, nausea, retching, anorexia or lack of appetite, depression, fever, and difficulty breathing.

If any of these symptoms are identified, it is recommended that you immediately alert the veterinarian and isolate the animal from other dogs to prevent the virus from spreading further. In severe cases, dogs can develop pneumonia as a result of this virus. In the case of puppies, or adult dogs with other types of underlying diseases, they can cause fatal bronchopneumonia.

As a result of the large number of cases detected in Miami Dade County over the past few weeks, only the Animal Services headquarters will continue to operate normally. In the rest of the locations, medical services, neutering, operations, vaccinations, placement of microchips, and dog adoption events have been temporarily suspended. The aim is to limit contact between animals, to put a stop to the spread of the virus as soon as possible.

Due to the new restrictions, the animal service for the time being will only receive stray dogs that are injured, sick or violent. The rest will not enter the facilities of the government department for now.

As always in the face of viruses, veterinarians indicate that dogs are better able to cope with the infection if they have their vaccines up to date. As additional measures, they recommend that until the peak of infections passes, people avoid taking their pets to parks, canine centers or animal groomers (always seeking to limit unnecessary contacts between dogs). They also indicate that it is advisable to avoid that dogs are exposed to extreme temperatures, humidity (something difficult to get in Miami), and always keep them in well-ventilated areas. Finally, it is advisable to try to avoid stressful situations for dogs, limiting situations that cause them fear (such as exposure to loud noises).

The authorities also indicated that it is a virus that affects dogs, and that it does not pose a risk to other types of pets, nor to humans.

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