Question
# 1886 |
At our shelter we want to have organized play groups for the dogs that have completed their holding period and that have passed a standard behavior evaluation. My question is what specific guidelines would you recommend for this to be successful behaviorally and medically, with kennel cough in mind.
Should dogs be fully vaccinated, as in 2 boosters for adult dogs, 3 for puppies? Keeping in mind that 21 days apart for vaccines is a long time for stress levels to go up in dogs and socialization to decrease, also our dog runs are only big enough to house one dog. If post-kennel cough how many days until a dog could return to a play group?
Our shelter is in WA state and the dog kennels are all inside, but play yards are outside. I have come from CA where we had outdoor runs and kennel cough was virtually non-existent. At this shelter it is heavy even though runs are cleaned daily and we currently use kennelsol. The vet seems to think kennel cough is not air-born, right or wrong? |
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Date question was answered: 2010-04-27 |
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Answer |
Thank you for your questions. In order for me to best answer your questions, I have divided your questions into three sections: playgroups, vaccine protocols, and canine infectious respiratory disease complex.
Playgroups:
I am happy to hear that you are taking steps to enrich the lives of the dogs in your care.
Playgroups that are planned and executed properly can positively impact the lives of the dogs in your care. In this situation, it seems like the risk of kennel cough is not going to be significantly increased by having asymptomatic dogs interact in playgroups compared to the risk of the dogs being housed within an indoor shelter facility. Of course, dogs chosen for the playgroups should be healthy, free of internal and external parasites, and have been vaccinated with a modified live DAPP vaccine (distemper virus/ adenovirus-2/ parvovirus / parainfluenza) or a recombinant distemper vaccine at least seven days prior to joining a playgroup. It is unlikely that an adequate immune response can occur earlier than 3-5 days after the first vaccination, so waiting a week before direct contact with other dogs should provide the animal enough time to begin to respond.
We do not recommend dogs under 6 months of age being in a playgroup with unrelated puppies in a shelter environment because the risk of diseases such as parvo and distemper outweighs the socialization benefits that the puppies will receive from the playgroups. Puppies can and should be able to interact and play with their own littermates.
When playgroups are established the groups should be divided by: age, size, energy level, and play style. The adult and juvenile dogs that are chosen for the playgroups should have even temperaments and be well socialized or fluent in communicating with other dogs. I would avoid placing dogs that are overly excited or not well socialized into any playgroup. The playgroups should be constantly monitored by a staff member or senior volunteer who is fluent in the language of dogs and feels comfortable handling dogs that may become too excited or cannot appropriately disengage from play. I would also limit the size of the playgroups to two dogs. This means that you will have more playgroups, but it will make it easier for the dogs to interact with each other and for the staff to assess the compatibility of the dogs. If the dogs are not compatible with each other, then a different pairing should be tried.
Ideally, your playgroups would be held in an environment that can be cleaned and disinfected between the different groups of dogs. This may not be possible. If you cannot disinfect the environment, it is still important to keep the environment clean by removing feces promptly and not sharing toys or water bowls between groups of dogs.
Vaccine protocols:
Puppies in a shelter environment should be vaccinated with the modified live DAPP vaccine or recombinant distemper vaccine that is given subcutaneously every 2 weeks until at least 4 months old because we do not know when maternal immunity will wane enough for the immune systems of these animals will respond to the vaccine. Puppies can also be vaccinated once with modified live respiratory disease (Bordetella bronchiseptica, parainfleunza, adenovirus-2) vaccine that is given intranasally after 6 weeks of age. Puppies should be routinely de-wormed
throughout their vaccine series.
The vaccines that we recommend for dogs greater than 6 months of age in a shelter environment are a modified live respiratory disease vaccine and a modified live DAPP vaccine or a recombinant distemper vaccine. These vaccines should be given to every dog prior to or immediately upon presentation at the shelter. Both juvenile (6 months+) and adult dogs should receive a second DAPP vaccine at a minimum of 2 weeks after the initial vaccine was given.
Canine infectious respiratory disease:
Multiple pathogens can cause respiratory disease in dogs or the clinical syndrome called "kennel cough". Unfortunately, a dog that is infected with any of these pathogens will often shed infectious material prior to showing any signs of illness.
Depending upon the pathogen(s)
involved, an infected dog may also be contagious to other dogs for weeks to months after recovering from his own illness. If you are able to perform diagnostic testing and determine the source of the infection you can adjust your isolation and quarantine protocols accordingly. Without a definitive diagnosis, a dog with a respiratory disease should be isolated from the general population for a minimum period of 2 to 3 weeks Isolating sick animals, quarantining exposed animals, maintaining excellent hand hygiene and sound cleaning and disinfection protocols are instrumental in keeping your population healthy. Respiratory diseases can be transmitted in the air by coughing and sneezing dogs. A dog's cough can spread infectious aerosol droplets over 20 feet. Unfortunately, these pathogens are also easily spread by fomites such as people, bedding and toys. Fortunately, the cleaning product that you are using is an effective disinfecting agent for upper respiratory disease pathogens.
Please see the following webpage for more information on canine infectious respiratory disease complex.
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_infectious_tracheobronchitis_canine.shtml
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_infectious_tracheobronchitis_canine.shtml
I hope this helps. Enjoy play time!
Catherine McManus VMD, MPH, DACVPM
Shelter Medicine Resident
Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Florida |
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Question
# 1635 |
When we happen to get dogs in the Kennel with kennel cough, many of the other dogs get it. We do not have a quarantine section. We treat with Doxy and Cough suppressant. Right now we do not vaccinate but i do wonder if we did vaccinate on arrival or a day after if that would give the dogs any advantage since they are going right in to the main kennel.I also wonder how effective bleach baths would be as the kennel tech will go from one dog to another and though the shoes may be clean, they will have had dogs jumping on them and easily could pass infection by their clothing. |
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Date question was answered: 2009-07-10 |
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Answer |
First, I'd like to make sure that you have read the page on our website on canine infectious respiratory disease. Our website also has some previously-answered FAQs on this topic. To review these, go to our FAQ page and enter the following numbers in the "Search FAQ" box, one at a time: 846, 813, 127. It is difficult to give you definitive recommendations without knowing for sure what disease you are dealing with. Most shelters deal with respiratory disease in dogs, at least from time to time. In many cases, it is just regular "kennel cough." But not always.
One of the main pathogens that causes "kennel cough" (Bordetella bronchiseptica) tends to have a lot of different strains that vary in how virulent they are. So, a run of particularly severe canine respiratory disease could just mean that a particularly severe strain of Bordetella is going around.
However, it is notoriously difficult to distinguish "kennel cough" from canine distemper. If neurologic signs such as tremors or seizures develop in sick dogs, that's usually a pretty good sign that a shelter is dealing with canine distemper, but a lack of neurologic signs doesn't necessarily mean that distemper isn't present. Making the distinction can require diagnostic tests (necropsy is often the most straightforward, especially when the decision to euthanize has already been made, or when animals have died), but we can also sometimes get a better idea by looking at the way the disease behaves in the population.
Bordetella is ubiquitous; nearly all shelters probably deal with it at some level. Distemper tends to occur in geographic "pockets;" shelters in some communities (usually communities with high levels of vaccination) never see it, and in shelters in communities with low levels of vaccination, it is often a constant problem. Canine influenza has not been seen at all in most areas of the country, and when it is seen, it tends to occur in epidemic proportions (i.e. nearly every single dog in the shelter gets sick with it).
Canine distemper tends to be more common in puppies and unvaccinated adults, but can also affect adults that are exposed to high levels of the virus before vaccination has had time to kick in (i.e. previously unvaccinated dogs that are vaccinated on admission, but are admitted to a shelter that has a high level of canine distemper.) This can be difficult to recognize, though, because about half of dogs that become infected with canine distemper are either asymptomatic or show only mild respiratory signs (indistinguishable from "kennel cough.") Bordetella tends to be a bit more equal-opportunity - it can affect puppies or adults, and vaccination can help reduce the chance of disease, or severity of disease, but doesn't eliminate it completely. Canine influenza will affect all dogs equally - puppies or adults, vaccinated or unvaccinated, and again, tends to occur in epidemic proportions.
There are some general recommendations that are important for the prevention, reduction and control of canine infectious respiratory disease in shelters: supporting the ability of dogs to ward off disease and reducing the level of disease-causing pathogens dogs are exposed to. The following strategies can be used to accomplish these goals: complete and appropriate vaccination protocols, careful isolation practices, stress reduction, avoidance of crowding, reducing the average length of shelter stays, effective sanitation, and prevention of airway irritation (e.g. by minimizing barking, cleaning in such a way that airborne irritants are reduced, and maintaining good air quality.)
The best way for your to improve disease control in a shelter situation like you describe would be to vaccinate all animals on intake. This is important for primarily the parvo component of the vaccine, but giving a Bordetella vaccine as well may decrease the severity of kennel cough in your shelter. Vaccinating on intake is a critical component of good infectious disease control. Here is some more information regarding vaccination:
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_vaccination.shtml#top3
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_infectious_tracheobronchitis_canine.shtml#top
There is also a good webinar on kennel cough by our faculty member, Dr. Sandra Newbury at the following site:
http://www.sheltermedicine.com/education/webinars.php#top4
Regarding your question about footbaths. Bleach is not the best choice to use for foot baths. The primary reason for this is that bleach is inactivated in the presence of organic material, such as feces, food, urine, and just plain old dirt. Foot baths usually become quickly contaminated by such organic material. Potassium peroxymonosulfate (trade name Trifectant or Virkon) or Wysiwash are often better disinfectant choices for foot baths, because their disinfectant activity is less affected by the presence of organic material.
All that said, I must tell you that foot baths, regardless of the disinfectant used, should not be relied upon very heavily to prevent spread of germs through the shelter. Studies of foot baths show that even when these are consistently used, they do an imperfect job of preventing disease transmission. Ideally, shoes should be scrubbed as well as dipped in a foot bath, and this is rarely practical in a shelter. A contact time of 10 minutes or so is recommended for most disinfectants - a quick dip of shoe treads into disinfectant may not be adequate. If not replenshed or refilled frequently enough, foot baths tend to dry out. We have seen shelters in which foot baths consisted of litterboxes containing a towels just slightly dampened with disinfectant - these are ineffective at best, and the slight moisture on shoes might actually promote growth of germs. Foot bath disinfectant should be deep enough to cover shoe treads, and foot baths should be changed daily or more often if heavily soiled. When it really counts, such as when actually treating animals for a highly infectious disease such as parvo or ringworm in a shelter, dedicated boots or disposable shoe covers are preferred.
If you have not done so already, please review the cleaning and disinfection sections of our website:
www.sheltermedicine.com/portal/is_cleaning.shtml#top3
Be sure to also look through an 18-page review of sanitation in shelters, called "Saving Lives Through Sanitation" also available on that web page.
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Question
# 1535 |
Maddie's Infection Control Manual for Animal Shelters notes heat is a "fairly reliable method of sterilization" (p. 50-51) and that moist heat (steam) is even more effective than dry heat. The small shelter where I volunteer currently mostly uses bleach. However, the drawbacks I see are that it is often mixed with detergent -which I understand deactivates it. Also, the environmental impact of bleach is a concern. So, wonder steam cleaning would be as effective?. Also, any feedback on ultraviolet lighting? |
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Date question was answered: |
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Answer |
I don't have any personal experience using steam cleaners in shelters, but it is not something we generally recommend that shelters implement on a regular basis. Steam cleaning most definitely can be beneficial in certain circumstances, but we do not recommend them as the method of cleaning for several reasons.
• Steam cleaning requires more staff time in order to achieve minimum contact time per area. Using a good disinfectant e.g. Trifectant allows for larger areas to be cleaned
more quickly.
• The amount of water and heat used may be expensive and / or increase shelter humidity.
• Due to the noise and heat the entire area must be cleared of animals, again increasing staff time and work.
• In order to kill viruses such as panleukopenia you need to achieve temperatures of 133-140 degrees F for 20-40 minutes.
Many of the steam cleaners one can rent or buy use hot tap water which would be ineffective in regards to some of the hardier germs we battle with in shelters as they do not generate enough heat.
If you have rooms with furniture and / or carpets where animals are housed, such as group housing for cats, or home environments for dogs, it may be appropriate to use a steam cleaner for cleaning before new animals are introduced, or if the room has been exposed to a suspect or confirmed infectious animal (i.e. parvo, ringworm).
In regards to UV light: UV light is used to kill airborne pathogens (which is relatively unimportant in disease transmission in a shelter, especially in cats), but doesn't actually improve air quality, because it doesn't remove particles such as dust from the air. Also keep in mind that shelter diseases are primarily transmitted by fomites rather than through airborne germs rather than through the air. UV-light would not prevent this kind of disease transmission.
Kennel cough and URI tend flourish in dog and cat populations that are crowded and stressed. Poor air quality and lack of good immunity also contribute significantly. If the shelter is struggling with URI and kennel cough, there are most likely other improvements that could be made, which are less expensive than UV lights, and would probably be much more effective. If we were to focus on air quality, there are 3 main approaches that may be taken to improve air quality, listed below in order of effectiveness:
1. Reduce sources of air pollution - decrease housing density, change litter-boxes frequently, use low dust litter, avoid zealous sweeping or spraying of disinfectant.
2. Improve ventilation - increase the amount of fresh air through open windows, outdoor spaces, ventilation systems.
3. Air cleaning with filters. This may be a helpful adjunct when increased ventilation is not an option. Air filters are the least effective strategy, and UV lights are probably even less effective.
Generally I would recommend using bleach or Trifectant for disinfection as they are both parvocidal and effective against feline calicivirus. Bleach is generally no inactivated by soap (it should not be mixed with quaternary ammonias though), but it will be inactivated by organic material. It is thus recommended to use as a second step, after mechanically cleaning with a detergent. If your shelter staff prefers using a one-step cleaning protocol you may want to consider switching to Trifectant or Bruclean.
I hope this is helpful. |
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Question
# 1201 |
We have been seeing a small number of dogs who are being treated for kennel cough (w/ doxycycline) that die acutely with hemorrhagic pneumonia. Three have died in the shelter (over a 2 month period, but none since 12/07) and now 2 adopted dogs in the past 2 months. My shelter manager wants to know what we can do differently to make this problem "go away". We did labs on the first few dogs and got canine influenza and 3+ growth of beta hemolytic strep. Our shelter houses approximately 125 dogs in 6 rows of single sided 3 X 6 runs. Every 2 rows have a common, open drain which runs below the shared back wall of the kennel. Dogs are recieved from the public as well as animal control from the surrounding cities/county. Cleaning is done with a quat that is supposed to be left on 10 minutes (but rarely is). Dogs are tied out at the end of the aisles during cleaning and generally 5-8 kennels are cleaned at a time. Currently we don't use bleach unless an animal is diagnosed w/ parvo. Thanks for your help. |
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Date question was answered: |
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Answer |
Did you get any diagnosis on the 2 adopted dogs that died?
Did they have the same signs as the ones diagnosed with CIV and strep last year, and how long after adoption did they develop signs?
What are your current vaccination protocols?
Generally when we have see outbreaks of strep pneumonia it is associated with overcrowding and the resulting problems. These situations have so far been successfully resolved with appropriate antibiotic treatment, and by reducing the number of animals in the facility, preventing direct contact and transmission between animals, and enforcing good vaccination, cleaning and population segregation protocols.
The cleaning process itself may serve to spread, rather than prevent disease if not carefully thought through. Ideally dogs should be held in doubled sided runs separated by a guillotine door, such that the dog can be held on one side while the other side is cleaned. When this is not a possibility and the dogs must be removed from their run for cleaning, they should not be left in a common holding kennel nor tied in aisle-ways with other dogs or while contaminated water and disinfectant is sprayed nearby. I am suspecting that when the dogs are tied at the end of the aisle, they are able to interact with each other. Allowing the animals to interact on a daily basis while the runs are being cleaned is not an optimal situation at all, and is a fairly effective way of spreading various respiratory agents among the dogs. Rather than tying all the dogs at the end of the aisle I would recommend that use a “move one down” approach to cleaning and disinfection:
By keeping one run at the end of a row empty and clean; you can move the first dog into this run, then clean and disinfect its old run. Move the next dog into the newly cleaned run, cleaned and disinfect its old run, and so on till all the runs have been cleaned and disinfected. By the end of cleaning you should have a new empty and clean run on the other end of the row ready for the next day’s cleaning. This way you reduce the risk if direct transmission between the animals, and even if the runs accidentally are not 100% disinfected, the dogs will only be exposed to 2 runs, and thus indirectly 2 dogs, during its stay.
Quaternary ammonium disinfectants should take care of both CIV and streptococcus, so that shouldn’t be the main issue. Most canine respiratory pathogens only survive in the environment for a few hours (canine distemper) to a few weeks (Bordetella) and are inactivated by virtually all routinely used disinfectants. Adenovirus is an exception; like other un-enveloped viruses, it is reliably inactivated by only a handful of disinfectants, including household bleach (5% sodium hypochlorite) diluted at 1:32, or by potassium peroxymonosulfate (Virkon® or Trifectant®).Survival of primary and secondary pathogens may be greatly enhanced by persistent moisture in the environment; therefore surfaces should be in good repair to prevent pooling of water, and cleaning should be followed by thorough drying on a daily basis. I would also suggest you apply bleach as a second step at least when there is a higher risk of parvo in the shelter, such as when you have litters of puppies or suspected cases. It may also be a good idea to use bleach in your cat areas (if you have any) as Calicivirus is fairly hardy and not consistently inactivated by quats.
Do you have the option to isolate dogs that are symptomatic for respiratory infections?
Remember that mildly infected dogs may play a substantial role in maintaining respiratory infections in a given population. A common – and dangerous - misunderstanding is that a mildly infected dog is shedding only a mild pathogen. In fact, the severity of clinical signs is dictated as much by the dog’s immune system as by the inherent virulence of the pathogen. A perky dog with a mildly snotty nose may very well be shedding a pathogen such as canine distemper or influenza which could be fatal for another animal. Prompt removal of all symptomatic animals, no matter how mild the signs, has been critical in resolving many outbreaks. Staff and volunteers should be trained to carefully scan for sneeze marks on kennel walls as well as observing dogs for clinical signs before walking, cleaning or otherwise interacting. Because airborne transmission of CIRDC is a possibility, ideally isolation areas should have separate air flow. However, if this can not be achieved, don’t despair. Facilities have managed to maintain effective isolation by providing at least 20 feet of physical distance between sick and healthy dogs and paying careful attention to fomite control. In a shelter, this could even be accomplished by maintaining 2-3 empty runs between an "isolation area" and a "general healthy population" area, with crime scene tape or some other physical barrier separating the two sections of kennel runs.
In regards to CIV: There are several ways to break the infectious cycle of CIV in a shelter facility, and reduce probability of re-infection, but it can be difficult when re-infection is likely and building design challenging. Some facilities in endemic areas have opted to hold animals for a 2 week quarantine before release into the community in case of outbreaks in an attempt to ensure that the shelter is not acting as a source of continual community infection.
Tess |
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Question
# 953 |
Is there any potential for a completely unvaccinated kitten exposed to canine parvo developing panleuk and visa versa? (in other words, with limited isolation space, aside from needs to minimize stress, is there any reason for example a URI kitten could not be caged next to a parvo puppy - or a kennel cough puppy next to a panleuk kitten...) |
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Date question was answered: |
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Answer |
Unfortunately there is a very small but real risk for unvaccinated cats, and any kitten under 16 weeks of age, to contract parvovirla enteritis, to contract parvoviral enteritis from canine parvo patients. Any puppy or kitten younger than 16 weeks of age should be consdered unvaccinated or partially vaccinated regardless of its vaccine status due to the potential presence of maternally derived antibodies that may interfere with vaccines in these young animals.
It is not likely that a puppy would contract parvo infection from a cat with panleukopenia, but I would still be very hesitant to isolated animals of different species in the same room, both due to the stress that this may cause and the fact that cross-contamination and
the reduced immune capacity of these sick animals create a great environment for pathogens to multiply, mutate and come up with new "exciting" diseases.
This is also true for the respiratory pathogens; for instance we know that dogs and cats share some respiratory agents
such as Bordetella bronchiseptica which can cause quite severe respiratory disease in immune-compromised kittens.
If you have to house sick puppies and kitten in the same room, you need to ensure that they are kept as separated as possible, i.e. keep all the kittens in one end of the room and puppies in the other, and that staff change gloves or wash their hands between each animal,
as well as when moving from the kitten part to the puppy part of the room.
I hope this is helpful.
Sincerely,
Tess |
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Question
# 930 |
We have had an ongoing problem with what appears to be kennel cough in our shelter. We are seeking ANY advice on how to confine the spread - can it be killed? We vaccinate on intake with intra nasal Bordetella. |
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Date question was answered: |
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Answer |
First, I'd like to make sure that you have read the page on our website on canine infectious respiratory disease. Our website also has some previously-answered FAQs on this topic. To review these, go to our FAQ page and enter the following numbers in the "Search FAQ" box, one at a time: 846, 813, 127. It is difficult to give you definitive recommendations without knowing for sure what disease you are dealing with. Most shelters deal with respiratory disease in dogs, at least from time to time. In many cases, it is just regular "kennel cough." But not always.
One of the main pathogens that causes "kennel cough" (Bordetella bronchiseptica) tends to have a lot of different strains that vary in how virulent they are. So, a run of particularly severe canine respiratory disease could just mean that a particularly severe strain of Bordetella is going around.
However, it is notoriously difficult to distinguish "kennel cough" from canine distemper. If neurologic signs such as tremors or seizures develop in sick dogs, that's usually a pretty good sign that a shelter is dealing with canine distemper, but a lack of neurologic signs doesn't necessarily mean that distemper isn't present. Making the distinction can require diagnostic tests (necropsy is often the most straightforward, especially when the decision to euthanize has already been made, or when animals have died), but we can also sometimes get a better idea by looking at the way the disease behaves in the population.
Bordetella is ubiquitous; nearly all shelters probably deal with it at some level. Distemper tends to occur in geographic "pockets;" shelters in some communities (usually communities with high levels of vaccination) never see it, and in shelters in communities with low levels of vaccination, it is often a constant problem. Canine influenza has not been seen at all in most areas of the country, and when it is seen, it tends to occur in epidemic proportions (i.e. nearly every single dog in the shelter gets sick with it).
Canine distemper tends to be more common in puppies and unvaccinated adults, but can also affect adults that are exposed to high levels of the virus before vaccination has had time to kick in (i.e. previously unvaccinated dogs that are vaccinated on admission, but are admitted to a shelter that has a high level of canine distemper.) This can be difficult to recognize, though, because about half of dogs that become infected with canine distemper are either asymptomatic or show only mild respiratory signs (indistinguishable from "kennel cough.") Bordetella tends to be a bit more equal-opportunity - it can affect puppies or adults, and vaccination can help reduce the chance of disease, or severity of disease, but doesn't eliminate it completely. Canine influenza will affect all dogs equally - puppies or adults, vaccinated or unvaccinated, and again, tends to occur in epidemic proportions.
There are some general recommendations that are important for the prevention, reduction and control of canine infectious respiratory disease in shelters: supporting the ability of dogs to ward off disease and reducing the level of disease-causing pathogens dogs are exposed to. The following strategies can be used to accomplish these goals: complete and appropriate vaccination protocols, careful isolation practices, stress reduction, avoidance of crowding, reducing the average length of shelter stays, effective sanitation, and prevention of airway irritation (e.g. by minimizing barking, cleaning in such a way that airborne irritants are reduced, and maintaining good air quality.)
Are you giving an injectable DHPP (or DA2PP) to dogs on intake, in addition to the intranasal Bordetella vaccine? |
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Question
# 889 |
I work at a shelter in Colorado that has had an out break of Kennel Cough / Influenza in the dog population (50-70% of the dogs are affected). At the same timeabout the smae number of our cats have developed URI. Is it possible that these are related? Some of the cats do have oral ulcers so Calici Virus is probably involved, But the number of cats involved seems unusually high for this time of year. |
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Date question was answered: |
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Answer |
Has there been any changes at the shelter reasontly?
Such as changes in cleaning procedures or materials, vaccination protocols, number of animals kept at the shelter or staffing?
Have you done any diagnostic testing on affected animals?
As you may know, respiratory diseases in both dogs and cats in shelters is a disease complex where several factors are involved. Not only the different pathogens but also host factors and environmental factors.
It is hard for me to give you any specific answers without knowing more details about your shelter and the disease you are experiencing at the moment. I have however included some general information and recommendations for dealing with feline and canine respiratory disease in shelters:
Feline upper respiratory infection (URI) is perhaps the most frustrating illness in animal shelters. This is because many cats are chronically infected, vaccines are only partially effective, and specific treatments are limited.
Approximately 80-90% of cases are thoughts to be caused by one of the two viruses listed. Environmental factors and animal immune status play an equally important role in causing actual disease; all the pathogens listed below can also be found in clinically healthy cats.
- Feline Herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1 - probably the most common)
- Feline Calicivirus (FCV - perhaps not as common as herpes, but potentially more severe)
- Chlamydophila felis
- Mycoplasma spp.
- Bordetella bronchiseptica
Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex is foten referred to as “kennel cough”, “infectious tracheobronchitis” and variations on “canine infectious respiratory disease complex” interchangeably. However, the disease is not limited to the trachea, nor does it always manifest as coughing. Clinical signs of Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (CIRDC) may include sneezing, nasal and ocular discharge, and sometimes lower respiratory and/or systemic disease.
Viral pathogens associated with upper respiratory disease in dogs include
- Parainfluenza
- Adenovirus
- Canine respiratory coronavirus (this is distinct from canine enteric coronavirus)
- Canine herpesvirus
- Canine distemper and canine influenza may also be associated with upper respiratory signs, as well as potentially causing more severe systemic disease in a proportion of infected dogs.
- Bordetella bronchiseptica
- Mycoplasma spp.
- Streptococcus zooepidemicus (may cause severe systemic disease)
It is likely that secondary bacterial invaders of many species play a significant role in causing more severe disease in some dogs. We are still unraveling the complicated etiology of CIRDC, as evidenced by the fact that several of the pathogens listed above have only been recognized in recent years.
Environmental factors and host immune response play an important role in facilitating development of CIRDC. There’s a reason it’s called “kennel cough” – several of the pathogens listed above are insufficient in themselves to cause disease without the additional stress, high contact rate, and other factors associated with kenneling.
Although labeled canine infectious respiratory disease complex, some of the pathogens involved may also be transmitted to other species. Most notably, Bordetella bronchiseptica may ocassionally infect cats, and is often associated with pneumonia and coughing in cats with URI. This is not something we see regularly, but it does occur. To prevent cross-species transmission as well as reduce stress for all concerned, it is always ideal to house ill animals separately by species.
Predisposing factors for respiratory disease in dogs and cats:
Factors such as overcrowding, poor air quality, poor sanitation, stress, concurrent illness, parasitism, poor nutrition, and other causes of immunosuppression predispose to disease, and many of these factors are difficult or impossible to completely eliminate in a typical shelter. Although it is not possible to totally eradicate respiratory diseases from shelters, especially feline URI, the frequency and severity of cases can be greatly reduced through a systematic management strategy.
Reduction of overcrowding, effective cleaning, adequate ventilation, stress control, and good preventive medicine are the cornerstones of controlling respiratory disease in shelter populations:
Population management - crowding and the resulting stress is undoubtedly the single greatest risk factor for severe respiratory (and other) disease outbreaks in shelter populations. Increased population density leads to a greater risk of disease introduction, higher contact rate between animals (direct and indirect), reduced air quality, and often compromises in housing and husbandry.
An under-appreciated strategy for respiratory disease prevention is to simply reduce the amount of time each animal spends in the shelter environment.
It has been shown that the length of stay can be a significant risk factor for development of respiratory disease. Increased time for any animal in the shelter will also contribute to increased crowding with all the associated risks.
Stress reduction:
Cats - because clinical signs and shedding of FHV-1 are activated by stress, reduction is crucial to feline URI control. Even moving cats from cage to cage is enough to induce reactivation in some cats. “Spot cleaning” where possible and prioritizing housing for cats that does not require extensive movement or handling for care is likely key to control of URI. Providing hiding places, decreasing noise exposure, maintaining light/dark cycles and comfortable temperatures, and providing toys and scratching surfaces are also important to relieving feline stress. Unnecessary aversive handling should be minimized – the theoretical benefit of interventions that involve handling or forceful medication must be weighed against the certain stress these procedures cause.
Feline socialization programs can be helpful in relieving stress but must be implemented and monitored with care. Being removed from a cage, cuddled by a stranger and carried to an unfamiliar room to play may provide welcome relief from stress and boredom for some cats, but may be highly stressful for others, as well as serving to efficiently spread disease. While human interaction is a great form of enrichment for many cats, shelters must consider their particular infectious disease risks and institute disinfection protocols for volunteers so that they reduce the spread of disease between cats. Playing with cats with interactive (i.e., wand type) toys are a great way to provide the cat with physical and mental stimulation, but please remember that the toys must be disinfected in between cats.
Dogs – Providing adequate housing for dogs as well as physical and mental stimulation are tools to use in the prevention of stress in shelter dogs. Regular walks (ideally three times daily), food-filled toys and other activities may help reduce behavioral frustrations and stress. Housing dogs in each side of a double-sided cage intended for a single dog; housing multiple unrelated dogs per cage (particularly if not done in “all in/all out” fashion”); failure to isolate symptomatic animals; and delays in moving animals through the facility are frequent precursors of serious disease outbreaks in over-crowded shelters.
Vaccination:
Cats - vaccination does not prevent infection or development of a carrier state for any URI pathogen, and many strains of feline calicivirus are vaccine resistant. But vaccination can be an important tool in reducing the severity and duration of disease. Vaccines should be given immediately upon shelter entry for best effect, or at least one week prior to entry for boarding kennels and catteries.
Modified live (MLV) parenteral vaccines are available containing feline herpesvirus, feline calicivirus and feline panleukopenia (FVRCP). Intranasal MLV two-way (FVRC) or three-way (FVRCP) vaccines are also available. Modified live vaccines are generally preferred for the more rapid protection induced (5-7 days parenteral, 3-5 days intranasal). However, modified live vaccines (especially intranasal) may cause mild clinical signs. For more information on vaccination for feline URI, see our website and the American Association of Feline Practitioners Vaccine Guidelines, available online.
Dogs - Canine infectious respiratory disease complex is not a vaccine preventable condition. In spite of this, vaccination definitely plays a role in controlling CIRDC. In some cases disease can be virtually entirely prevented (e.g. canine distemper), while in others frequency and severity can be mitigated. In one study, vaccination for Bordetella and parainfluenza (with or without adenovirus) of even a fraction of dogs on intake to a shelter resulted in a significant reduction in the risk of coughing. For protection against canine distemper, all dogs should receive a modified live (MLV) or recombinant subcutaneous vaccine immediately upon intake to a shelter (if not sooner). Puppies should be vaccinated starting at 4 – 8 weeks of age, and revaccinated every 2-4 weeks until 16-18 weeks of age. For general information on vaccination of shelter pets, see our website and the The 2006 American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Guidelines available online.
Air Quality – good air quality is undoubtedly important in respiratory disease control. Although fresh air exchange is often emphasized, reduction of airborne contaminants is equally or even more effective (e.g. through reducing population density, frequent litter box cleaning, low dust litter, use of disinfectants at correct dilution). Air filtration (i.e. HEPA filter) may be tried, although it is less effective than fresh air exchange or contaminant reduction.
Disinfection - most respiratory pathogens survive in the environment no more than a few hours (FHV-1, CDV) to a few weeks (Bordetella) and are inactivated by routinely used disinfectants.
Feline calicivirus is a notable exception, and may survive for up to a month or even longer in dried discharge. FCV is inactivated by household bleach (5% sodium hypochlorite) diluted at 1:32, or by potassium peroxymonosulfate (Virkon® or Trifectant®). Calicivirus is NOT reliably inactivated by alcohols, and hand sanitizers commonly used in shelters may not be completely effective.
Isolation – both dogs and cats may shed respiratory pathogens without showing clinical signs, hence the need for careful hygienic precautions even when handling apparently healthy animals. Animals with active signs of infection are likely to be shedding much greater amounts, and isolation of these cats from the general population is a requirement for even a minimal disease control program.
Tess |
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Question
# 846 |
We house /adopt 6000 animals /year. In spite of renovations, proper handling, and vaccine protocols we continue to see URI/Kennel cough in dogs.
Our current cleaning protocol is trifectant foam, 10 min soak, high pressure rinse. We suspect aerosolization,of infectious agents, do you think this is likely?
What should we do about it? |
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The problem with respiratory disease in shelter dogs is that it is often a very complex disorder, warranting a complex prevention and intervention strategy. Canine infectious respiratory disease complex, almost by definition, is not a vaccine preventable condition. This means that prevention has to include not only appropriate vaccination protocols, effective cleaning and disinfection (Trifectant being one of the cleaning and disinfecting agents we recommend most frequently), but also adequate population segregation as well as measures to reduce fomite transmission and ensure good air quality.
Crowding and the resulting stress is undoubtedly the single greatest risk factor for severe respiratory disease outbreaks in shelters. Increased population density leads to a greater risk of disease introduction, higher contact rate, reduced air quality, and often, compromises in housing, cleaning and management. Housing dogs in each side of a double-sided cage intended for a single dog; housing multiple unrelated dogs per cage (particularly if not done in “all in/all out” fashion”); failure to isolate symptomatic animals; and delays in moving animals through the facility are frequent precursors of serious outbreaks in over-crowded shelters.
The problem with CIRDC and cleaning is that the cleaning process itself may in worst case serve to spread, rather than prevent, disease. Ideally dogs should be held in doubled sided runs separated by a guillotine door, such that the dog can be held on one side while the other side is cleaned. If dogs must be removed from their run for cleaning, they should not be left in a common holding kennel nor tied in aisle-ways while contaminated water and disinfectant is sprayed nearby. Aerozolisation of dirt and germs can definitely be a concern when using high pressure hose while there are animals present in the room.
We generally recommend using the high pressure hoses only if the shelter has double sided runs as described above. The clean halves of the runs should then allowed to dry before the guillotine door is opened. This not only allows the runs to dry but also allows any droplets in the air to settle, so that the dogs cannot inhale them.
If you cannot empty the room before rinsing the trifectant foam, you should use a lower pressure hose, and rely of mechanical scrubbing to remove dirt rather than high pressure.
Remember that mildly infected dogs may also play a substantial role in maintaining CIRDC in your shelter. A common and dangerous misunderstanding is that a mildly infected dog is shedding only a mild pathogen. A perky dog with a mildly snotty nose may very well be shedding a bed germ such as canine distemper or influenza which could kill another animal. Promptly removing all symptomatic animals, no matter how mild the signs, is usually critical in resolving high rates of respiratory disease and outbreaks.
Please also see out information sheets for more detailed information:
· Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex.
· Cleaning and Disinfection in Shelters
I hope this is helpful.
Tess |
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Question
# 813 |
I care for dogs in a kennel setting. From time to time we get an outbreak of kennel cough. Mostly these are new dogs who came from infected shelters. I keep our dogs up to date on bordatella vaccines and I keep the sick dog/s in a quarantined area well away from all the other dogs. I am currently using Triple Two to clean the kennel cough room. I also use an isolation gown and separate boots. My question is, Does Triple Two kill bordatella? And do I need to use an isolation gown? Does the fact that the virus is airborne mean that my clothing will be contaminated just by being in the enclosed area (and not touching the dog)? |
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Congratulations, it sounds like you are doing a fantastic job! Just curious - are you working in a shelter that transfers dogs in from other shelters, or at a boarding facility that is housing dogs rescued or adopted from shelters?
The short answer to your first question is yes, quaternary ammonium disinfectants such as Triple Two are generally effective against Bordetella. The short answer to your second question is - yes, it is probably a good idea to wear an isolation gown and separate boots, or different clothes than you wear when caring for the healthy dogs. The answer to your third question - whether or not your clothing will become contaminated by airborne pathogens when you just enter the isolation area but don't touch any dogs - I don't actually know for sure. It's possible that there would be some contamination, but I think it's probably relatively insignificant in the larger scheme of environmental contamination and disease transmission.
So, why would I recommend that you wear a gown and boots when cleaning the isolation area? In many facilities, especially those without double-sided runs with guillotine doors, it is difficult if not impossible to clean dog housing areas without having to actually handle some of the dogs, and, handling dogs in kennels is often a full body contact sport! Also, if you are using high-pressure sprayers, that can increase the likelihood of airborne contamination. So, try to avoid handling sick dogs during cleaning (again, double-sided runs with guillotine doors are the easiest way to do this), but wear protective clothing too, just to be safe.
The longer answer to your question disinfection for Bordetella is that I would be hesitant to assume that infectious canine respiratory disease ("kennel cough") is always due to Bordetella. Bordetella is very common, and can cause intermittent "outbreaks" due to variation in strains. But, your veterinarian may want to consider other possible causes of canine respiratory disease as well, especially if you are seeing a sudden increase in the incidence of severity of disease. Luckily, most canine respiratory pathogens are fairly easy to inactivate using routine disinfectants such as the quaternary ammonium compounds. For more information on kennel cough, see the canine infectious respiratory disease page of our website..
Also, in some cases, cleaning methods can actually serve to spread disease rather than prevent disease transmission. For example, a mop that is used to sequentially clean all runs can heavily contaminate a bucket of disinfectant, rendering it ineffective, so that the mop just serves to spread pathogens from one run to the next. Also, if surfaces are not thoroughly dried after cleaning, the remaining moisture can promote environmental growth of pathogens. For more information about cleaning & disinfection protocols, see the cleaning and disinfection pages of our website.
What type of Bordetella vaccine are you using? We strongly recommend a 3-way intranasal vaccine (Bordetella, Canine parainfluenza, and canine adenovirus-2). The injectable vaccine is probably less effective. For more information, see the vaccination page of our website.
Finally, if you are housing dogs from shelters in a regular boarding kennel, it would probably be a good idea to keep those dogs separate from the rest of the population, even if they are not sick. Their recent shelter background puts them at higher risk of not only getting sick, but also of being asymptomatic carriers of diseases that they could pass on to owned pets. |
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Question
# 793 |
I know that this is a topic that is addressed frequently and I have reviewed the AAHA, AVMA, and AAFP recommendations and guidelines but I need some additional information that I am hoping someone can provide me. Now that we have gone through the second summer of panleukopenia and parvovirus at the shelter I have been asked to to speak to our board regarding the need for vaccination of animals on intake. This has not been done in the past due to liability concerns and the lack of support from our state veterinarian.
We are still seeing parvo and panleuk in large numbers here at our shelter. Our facility is actually divided between the open-intake shelter (serving 4 localities) and the SPCA (no-kill) adoption facility. I specifically work for the SPCA but assist with minor treatment of animals at the municipal shelter. We continue to have disease outbreaks even after addressing our cleaning procedures and isolation/quarantine of animals. The only thing we have not done is to implement appropriate vaccination of animals on intake at the municipal shelter.
Specifically, the board is interested in the time to effect for the different vaccines. A recent discussion on this list indicated that the modified live parvo virus vaccine may take from 3-5 days to provide some level of immunity but I have not been able to find specific time frames for panleuk, distemper, or bordetella.
Also I know that the board would respond better to numbers regarding risk of infection versus risk of vaccine reaction (if there are any specific numbers available). I know that the chance of infection is substantially higher based on my experience here but I need some additional data to support me. |
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You’ve touched on one of my favorite subjects….some references regarding time to onset are below. Many other references are provided in the AAHA and AAFP shelter sections to support the recommendations made there, including for vaccination on intake, vaccination of mildly ill, etc. I am not aware of published data regarding adverse vaccine reactions for the United States though I imagine specific vaccine manufacturers could provide estimates. The British National Suspected Adverse Reaction Surveillance Scheme found a rate of .004%. Keep in mind this is for all vaccines and all reactions. Of that .004%, many adverse reactions were likely much less serious (e.g. facial swelling) than parvo, panleukopenia or canine distemper. Also, the core vaccines recommended for shelter dogs and cats are relatively unlikely to cause severe anaphylactic reactions – viral vaccines are less likely to do this than SC whole cell bacterial vaccines such as some lepto vaccines. I’m guessing your risk of vaccine preventable disease (given the data of speed of onset, below) is quite a bit higher, when you put all this risk information together. You can further minimize the risk of adverse reactions causing a serious problem by clearly posting signs of an adverse reaction in the area where vaccines are administered and provide clear written instructions regarding what to do (e.g. number for emergency clinic, emergency drugs to administer etc.), and “certify” any staff administering vaccines by providing training and having them take a brief quiz on adverse vaccine reactions.
This information is available here on our website , along with information on correct vaccine handling and administration (scroll up from the link I just gave). I’ve put so much effort into building this case because in my experience, vaccination on intake is one of the most powerful tools for protecting shelter animal health. It doesn’t just help control the diseases against which you vaccinate – by controlling those diseases you help control other, weird, non-vaccinate-able diseases too. On the other hand, rampant parvo or distemper, being immunosuppressive in themselves, set you up for additional horrifying outbreaks in case they weren’t bad enough in themselves.
Good luck!
Kate F. Hurley, DVM, MPVM
Koret Shelter Medicine Program Director
Center for Companion Animal Health
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Time to onset of immunity for selected diseases of importance in the shelter environment
Brun, A., G. Chappuis, et al. (1979). "Immunisation against panleukopenia: early development of immunity." Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 1(4): 335-9.
The time necessary to obtain the immunity of cats against Panleukopenia has been studied by means of a modified live vaccine. This vaccine makes it possible to obtain a very early post-vaccinal immunity: the full immunity is reached 72 hr after the inoculation of the vaccine by the subcutaneous route. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that a sensitive kitten can be admitted in a contaminated environment immediately after vaccination without showing any clinical evidence of the disease.
Carmichael, L. E., J. C. Joubert, et al. (1983). "A modified live canine parvovirus vaccine with novel plaque characteristics. 1. Viral attenuation and dog response." Cornell Vet 73(1): 13-29.
A canine parvovirus strain (C-780916) was found attenuated for pups at 80, but not after 51 serial passages in dog kidney cell cultures. A variant viral population ('large plaque') emerged after prolonged cultivation in DKC cultures that may be associated with reduced native virulence. Dogs vaccinated with modified CPV develop high hemagluttination inhibition titers within four days of innoculation and antibody persisted. Vaccinated animals shed small amounts of virus in feces that spread to contact dogs. After five back passages in dogs, the modified strain was not pathogenic for pups and the plaque characteristics of the virus isolated in feces were typical of the attenuated strain. The modified live vaccine did not cause infection of the fetus when inoculated parenterally into pregnant bitches at various stages of gestation. It was non-pathogenic for neonatal pups. These results suggest that a safe and effective live homologous (CPV) vaccine has been developed which should aid substantially in controlling CPV infection.
Cocker, F. M., T. J. Newby, et al. (1986). "Responses of cats to nasal vaccination with a live, modified feline herpesvirus type 1." Res Vet Sci 41(3): 323-30.
Intranasal vaccination with a cold-adapted strain of feline herpesvirus type 1 (FHV-1) two days before challenge gave partial protection, and four days before challenge gave complete protection, against feline viral rhinotracheitis. Protection at this time appeared to be specific since vaccination with FHV-1 did not affect the disease caused by the unrelated feline calicivirus. The time course of onset of protection also confirmed that the protective mechanism was likely to be specific. However, six days after vaccination only low levels of FHV-specific IgA and IgM antibody and of interferon were found in serum and nasal washings. In lymphocyte transformation assays neither peripheral blood lymphocytes nor tonsil lymphocytes gave a significant proliferative response in the presence of FHV antigen. Pathogenesis experiments demonstrated that the tonsil and nasal turbinates were the most important sites of virulent FHV-1 replication. Vaccination significantly reduced levels of infectious virus found in both sites. The results provide evidence that no one mechanism is responsible for protection following vaccination but local specific responses are more likely to be involved.
Gore, T., M. Headley, et al. (2005). "Intranasal kennel cough vaccine protecting dogs from experimental Bordetella bronchiseptica challenge within 72 hours." Vet Rec 156(15): 482-3.
Larson, L. J. and R. D. Schultz (2006). "Effect of vaccination with recombinant canine distemper virus vaccine immediately before exposure under shelter-like conditions." Vet Ther 7(2): 113-8.
Vaccination with modified-live virus (MLV) canine distemper virus (CDV) vaccine has historically been recommended for animals in high-risk environments because of the rapid onset of immunity following vaccination. Recombinant CDV (rCDV) vaccine was deemed a suitable alternative to MLV-CDV vaccination in pet dogs, but insufficient data precluded its use where CDV was a serious threat to puppies, such as in shelters, kennels, and pet stores. In this study, dogs experimentally challenged hours after a single dose of rCDV or MLV vaccine became sick but recovered, whereas unvaccinated dogs became sick and died. Dogs vaccinated with a single dose of rCDV or MLV vaccine 1 week before being experimentally challenged remained healthy and showed no clinical signs. Dogs given one dose of rCDV vaccine hours before being placed in a CDV-contaminated environment did not become sick. These findings support the hypothesis that rCDV vaccine has a similar time-to-immunity as MLV-CDV vaccines and can likewise protect dogs in high-risk environments after one dose.
Schroeder, J. P., D. W. Bordt, et al. (1967). "Studies of canine distemper immunization of puppies in a canine distemper-contaminated environment." Vet Med Small Anim Clin 62(8): 782-7.
Twenty-one susceptible puppies in 10 litters were vaccinated with a single dose of combined canine distemper-infectious canine hepatitis modified live virus tissue culture vaccine, Tissuvax-DH (Pitman-Moore Division of the The Dow Chemical Company), simultaneously with introduction into a canine distemper contaminated environment. One of 21 vaccinated puppies and 14 of 16 nonvaccinated littermates died of a canine distemper infection. Five littermate puppies with prevaccination titers (> 100ND50/1cc) reacted differently. One vaccinated puppy had a serologic response and canine distemper immunity; however, 2 vaccinated littermates and 2 non-vaccinated control littermates had decreasing titers and died of canine distemper. It is also evident from the data that chances of a dog resisting canine distemper infection when introduced into a contaminated environment are greatly reduced if vaccination is delayed.
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