Tooth & Nail: Describing diseases as ‘mysteries’ does disservice to the public

Popular press is raising the issue of a “mysterious” upper respiratory disease circulating currently in dogs.

CNN says the disease is “baffling veterinarians.” Some owners are calling the disease “scary.”

Such terms as these have no place among medical professionals or media trying to communicate to a largely naïve public. Such words do not adequately describe, nor do they benefit, ongoing work to determine whether what is being seen is an existing disease agent or perhaps any new or novel disease agents that may be emerging.

Such words frighten people. A frightened public is one that cannot hear well and is therefore highly vulnerable to misinformation or more importantly disinformation. Panicked people literally can’t hear vital information.

In most cases, veterinary medical professionals must rule out the plethora of known diseases and what causes them before assuming what is being observed now is novel disease. This process is efficient and effective because likely an observed disease is most often not a novel disease.

The process for ruling out known entities has never been faster than it is now. For known diseases, there are already recommendations in place for care and control of the problem.

Powerhouse laboratories like the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on the Washington State University campus can often sequence and identify pathogens in a matter of a few hours. They do this work every day with the capacity to gear up for around-the-clock service in cases of state, regional or national emergency.

The public has taken identifying disease agents to mean “DNA fingerprinting.” It is much more than that though and relies upon a wide variety of tests, tools, techniques and internationally agreed upon protocols all conducted by exquisitely trained individuals at many levels. Together they develop the best data quickly and accurately and to share it in a uniform manner.

“Eighty percent of Americans who graduate from high school take their only formal science courses in biology,” according to the National Institutes of Health.

While a good start, such education is incomplete. Most high school biology education does not include instruction on diseases and the work necessary to identify what causes disease to any significant degree. The point here is using inappropriate terms does not build people’s trust in the medical community or legitimate information sources.

Here’s at least part of what is known about the current illness circulating among dogs. This information comes from the Washington State Department of Agriculture available here: bit.ly/46OH7W4.

It’s called atypical Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex or CIRDC for short. There are lots of known disease agents that cause dogs to cough, have a snotty nose, maybe vomit, run a fever and feel poorly for a few days to weeks. And almost all those diseases can kill a certain number of dogs that are young, old, immunocompromised or pregnant. With some, death is rare, with others it is more frequent.

Such signs of disease like this worry people who do not know more than just what they may recall from the dark hallways of a jam-packed high school biology course offered decades before.

While the disease agent is not known yet, it will be elucidated and determined to be a known agent, a recently mutated agent or one formerly unknown to disease professionals.

If your dog has signs of CIRDC, call your veterinarian and follow their advice. There have only been 16 cases confirmed in Washington. Get your dogs fully vaccinated for all canine respiratory diseases.

Avoid congregations of dogs. Keep healthy dogs away from sick dogs. Wash your hands if exposed to a sick dog. Don’t use a kennel that admits sick dogs.

Powell is the retired public information officer for Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. This column reflects his thoughts and no longer represents WSU. For questions or concerns about animals you’d like to read about, email charliepowell74@gmail.com