The winter season is common for many viral infections. This season, it’s not humans but dogs in the US to get severely affected. The dogs in 24 states of the US are contracting canine influenza, similar to pneumonia in humans. Several dog day care centers are closed down temporarily across the states to prevent the flu from spreading.

After encountering a number of cases of the influenza and its symptoms, the veterinarians concluded that the dogs are infected with different strains of influenza and the most common is H3N2 flu. This causes difficulties to dogs such as lethargy, trouble breathing, coughing, difficulty eating, or loss of appetite. However, the disease isn’t fatal and if reported early, it could be cured relatively quickly.

“If we see them early and get them on preventative antibiotics, they do really well”, said Dr. Jennifer Luke, who works with the Tierrasanta Veterinary Hospital in San Diego. She advises pet owners to get their dogs vaccinated as soon as possible due to severity of the disease. The number of cases has increased last month.

Many states such as Montana, the cities of Seattle, Chicago and Washington are affected by the disease. This widespread nature of the disease has become the cause of concern mainly. The disease spreads through several means. The most common is dog to dog, when an infected dog transfers flu to another dog. Humans can also contribute in causing infection to dog.

Unaware people may carry the flu in their clothes or other object, so they are advised to keep themselves clean using hot water before coming in contact with their pets. Several vets even comment that this strain of the flu is more common in cats or rats than in dogs. There are chances that even dogs can get it if they come into contact with an infected animal.