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NJ Drug Maker Produces Dog Flu Vaccine, 1st in US

Vicki

Administrator
N.J. drug maker produces dog flu vaccine, first in U.S.

by Carly Rothman/The Star-Ledger Thursday June 25, 2009, 6:09 PM


While drug makers scramble to produce H1N1 influenza vaccines for humans, a drug company with New Jersey ties has developed a drug to ward off a flu strain that targets man's best friend.

Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health said this week its canine influenza vaccine -- the first approved to protect dogs from the contagious respiratory illness -- has received a conditional product license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The novel H3N8 flu virus, which does not affect people, can be passed among dogs or from a human carrier to a dog. It was first recognized in 2004 after an outbreak among greyhounds at a Florida race track, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.

Today the disease is endemic in three regions: southern Wyoming and northern Colorado, Florida and the New York City metropolitan area, said Michael San Filippo, spokesman for the association.

Canine flu was first reported in New Jersey after an infected dog entered a kennel near the New York border a few years ago, said Sebastian Reist, principal veterinarian for disease control in the State Veterinarian's office.
While the state does not currently require veterinarians to report confirmed cases, both Reist and John DeVries, assistant director for Oradell Animal Hospital, said cases typically appear in June.

"That's probably because this is the time where people start going on vacation, boarding their dogs," DeVries said.

Dogs have no natural immunity to the virus, which is related to an equine flu strain. The most common symptoms are a cough, high fever and nasal discharge. Most cases are mild, but a severe illness can lead to pneumonia and can become fatal.

DeVries said dogs with other health problems are at higher risk, adding he would likely recommend the new vaccine for dogs that come in contact with other dogs in places including kennels, groomers and dog parks.
Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health was formed in 2007 after Organon BioSciences was acquired by Schering-Plough, which is based in Kenilworth.

While DeVries said the illness has not appeared at his hospital this year, he said hundreds of dogs were affected in an earlier outbreak, and several recent cases have been reported in central New Jersey.

The Clarksburg-based agency NorthStar VETS, which stands for Veterinary Emergency Trauma & Specialty Center, has confirmed two cases of canine influenza and found signs in 15 dogs in Ocean, Monmouth, Mercer and Burlington counties, said spokeswoman Nicole Tassarino, noting the agency finds about one case per month.

"The important thing is to make sure their owners are looking out for this," said Brie Messier, hospital administrator for NorthStar VETS. "Vaccines are not 100 percent ... (but) it will certainly be a help."

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/nj_drug_maker_intervetschering.html