Deadly Dog Flu Has Now Reached 15 States

By Brandy Arnold -

The sometimes deadly dog flu, canine influenza A H3N2, a type of bird flu that adapted with the ability to infect dogs first appeared in parts of Asia in 2007.
In April of 2015, the first case of Canine H3N2 was found in the United States. Although it’s unknown how the virus made its way here, the outbreak first began in Illinois where an estimated 1,000 dogs have been infected.
Over the next several weeks, the flu spread to surrounding states in the Midwest and has since made its way as far south as Alabama, Georgia, and Texas and as far west as California.
The deadly flu has now been confirmed in 15 different states: Illinois, Alabama, California, Texas, Massachusetts, New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio, Minnesota, and now South Dakota.


The flu is spread from dog to dog (and now, to cats) much in the same way the human flu is spread – through direct contact, through coughing and sneezing, through contact with contaminated objects and surfaces, etc. The flu is not contagious to humans.