The Dog Bowl Pet Supply and BARF Raw Food Blog
The Dog Bowl is an online storefront that offers quality pet products including: raw dog food, B.A.R.F., pet beds, dog dental care, pet first aid kits for travel, and every other luxury pet gift imaginable.Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Can West Nile virus cause illness in dogs or cats?
Question: Can West Nile virus cause illness in dogs or cats?
Answer: Dogs and cats become infected when bitten by an infected mosquito. There is also evidence that cats can become infected with the virus after eating experimentally infected mice. That said, in one year’s time, relatively small number of WNV infected dogs and only 1 infected cat were reported to CDC during 2003. Experimentally infected dogs showed no symptoms while some infected cats exhibited mild, nonspecific symptoms---slight fever, slight lethargy---during the first week.
There is no documented evidence of dog or cat-to-person transmission of West Nile virus. Preliminary studies have been unable to detect virus in the saliva of infected dogs, which suggests that dog bites pose a low, if any, risk of transmission to animals or people. But, if your pet becomes infected with WNV, there are likely to be infected mosquitoes in your area and you should take protective measures.
The good news is that, while there is no specific treatment for WNV infection in cats and dogs, full recovery is likely.
Answer: Dogs and cats become infected when bitten by an infected mosquito. There is also evidence that cats can become infected with the virus after eating experimentally infected mice. That said, in one year’s time, relatively small number of WNV infected dogs and only 1 infected cat were reported to CDC during 2003. Experimentally infected dogs showed no symptoms while some infected cats exhibited mild, nonspecific symptoms---slight fever, slight lethargy---during the first week.
There is no documented evidence of dog or cat-to-person transmission of West Nile virus. Preliminary studies have been unable to detect virus in the saliva of infected dogs, which suggests that dog bites pose a low, if any, risk of transmission to animals or people. But, if your pet becomes infected with WNV, there are likely to be infected mosquitoes in your area and you should take protective measures.
The good news is that, while there is no specific treatment for WNV infection in cats and dogs, full recovery is likely.
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