A mysterious respiratory disease has been affecting dogs across several states in the US including Oregon, Colorado, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California, Indiana, Illinois, Washington, Idaho, Georgia and Florida.

Research is ongoing to determine the causes of the disease, its transmission and potential treatments.

The cases appear to fall into three categories:

• Respiratory illness that lasts 6-8 weeks that is minimally or not responsive to antimicrobials
• Chronic pneumonia that responds poorly to antibiotics 
• Acute pneumonia that quickly becomes severe.

Further information can be found here.

Vetlexicon Canis has the following information on canine respiratory disease:

Article: Canine infectious respiratory disease (CIRD)

Article: Lung: bacterial pneumonia

We will bring updates on this emerging issue as and when developments occur.