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Dogs in danger

Distemper outbreak suspected in deaths of eight dogs

Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Jan 08/01) - At least eight dogs have been euthenized over the last two weeks and the cause is thought to be distemper.

Veterinarian Heather Priest cannot confirm the disease is distemper but the sick dogs show tell-tale symptoms.

Fact File

- Many dogs will show improvement with distemper but usually a relapse comes with a stronger fever.
- Dogs can survive distemper if they have had minimal contact with the disease and built up a tolerance or if they have been vaccinated.
- Most dogs affected tend to be young puppies.
- The virus is usually transmitted by wild animals such as foxes.
- Distemper is a cyclical disease that killed 80 to 90 per cent of the dogs in some Northern communities in the late 1980s.
- Most dogs in Iqaluit are not vaccinated.


The fever causes the animals to become lethargic, she said. They also do not eat, they vomit and have diarrhea as well as have yellowish-green discharge ooze from their eyes and nose.

In severe cases the pets have seizures and tremors and most of time the disease escalates to the point that dogs must be euthenized.

"It is very difficult," Priest said. "It was upsetting for the families because these were their pets and they were important to them."

Iqaluit usually has a large number of dogs roaming the streets but because of the outbreak owners were warned to keep their dogs locked up.

Distemper is a highly contagious virus but it can be difficult to confirm.

"The changes in tissue can be subtle," Priest said. She recently sent out samples to be tested but they were inconclusive.

The number of cases seem to be dwindling, she said Thursday. In all, 12 dogs were diagnosed with the elusive sickness while eight were put to sleep. The remaining four are still battling the illness.

"I think we still need to be cautious but I'm just starting to get a little optimistic," Priest said. "But when it hits it usually kills a large number of unvaccinated dogs."