New Dog Flu: New Vaccination Makes Sense

Dog flu was the big pet story of 2015. It might also be the big story of 2016, if not enough dogs are vaccinated.

Dr. Natalie Marks explains this flu identified in 2015 in the U.S. is called H3N2, and may be more serious in more dogs than the dog flu that settled in the U.S. several years ago, H3N8.

Dr. Natalie Marks gives our dog, Hazel, a dog flu vaccine

The dog flu that hit big did so, in part, because dogs in the U.S. weren’t previously exposed. It’s pretty guaranteed that any dog with no previous exposure will get the bug once exposed (though about 20 percent of dogs show to symptoms though they still spread the flu). Also, H3N2 lingers, often sickening dogs for about three weeks or so.

However, Dr. Marks notes there’s one very easy way to prevent this: Vaccinate!