Nanaimo Veterinary Hospital Sounding Alarm Over Rare Disease In Dogs

A Nanaimo emergency veterinary hospital is sounding the alarm over a rare disease occurring in dogs.

A Nanaimo emergency veterinary hospital is sounding the alarm over a rare disease occurring in dogs.

According to a press release issued by Central Island Veterinary Emergency Hospital, necrotizing fasciitis (also known as flesh-eating disease), is a disease that is difficult and expensive to treat and often fatal, has cropped up in six dogs in Nanaimo, Parksville, and Qualicum Beach since October.

Nectrotizing fasciitis is a deep-seated infection of the skin, underlying fat layer and connective tissue surrounding muscles. A number of different bacterial species have been known to cause the infection..

Veterinarian Catherine Daniel said she has submitted the cases to the Canadian Animal Health Surveillance System. The most recent case appearing in the system was from April – details of cases in the system only appear with the pet owner’s consent – for a dog in Parksville that had to be euthanized. Two of the cases listed were in Nanaimo and all cases occurred in different breeds. Of the five cases listed, four of the dogs had to be euthanized and one dog died soon after arriving in hospital.

Daniel said the disease is so rare in dogs that veterinarians can spend their entire careers without encountering a case and she doesn’t know why cases seem to have spiked in the central Island in recent months.

Pet owners should be wary if their dogs display certain symptoms. Pets with pain, especially in a limb, with or without swelling should be seen by a veterinarian. Usually, there is no discoloration of the skin, but it can develop over a few hours and a fever is commonly associated with necrotizing fasciitis.

Daniel said treatment, including aggressive surgical intervention, is costly – as much as $15-20,000.