The whole family sneezes as sick leave at work piles up. Just in time for the cold winter season, the flu returns. We spend days in bed with a runny nose and a sore throat – the dog is always at our side as a faithful companion. But is it harmless if the four-legged friend is located near us and may lick our face intently? After all, we are sick and some influenza viruses also exist in the animal kingdom. So we ask ourselves the question: Can I give my dog the flu? That’s what the science says.
How likely is it that my dog will catch the flu?
As reported by the “geo.de” portal, no four-legged friend in Germany has ever fallen ill because his mistress or master had contracted the flu. Thank God! Because that’s what it looks like around the world. This in itself a A dog infected with the human influenza virus is not excluded in principle.
“Investigations, especially from China and the United States, show that transmission of the virus from people with influenza to dogs does occur. Professor Dr. Tim Harder, Head of Laboratory at Virus Diagnostic Institute From the Friedrich Loeffler Institute vs geo.de. “But it’s more common Indirect evidence of such infection By detecting antibodies in dogs. Depending on the study and virus subtype, antibody-positive dogs range from 1-2% to 10-20%.
So we can breathe easy. the The chances of you getting the flu are very small. In addition, viruses have been detected in animals but have not been detected It does not necessarily indicate disease. This means that dogs can be susceptible to influenza viruses, but not necessarily sick.
Canine influenza – these are the most common symptoms
This doesn’t mean that dogs can’t get the flu either. But the disease in fur noses is called after that.”Canine fluIts symptoms are very similar to those of human influenza. This includes:
- Runny nose
- Cough
- fever
- Anorexia
- fatigue
If your dog is sick, you don’t have to worry about your health. Humans cannot contract canine influenza. So you can cuddle and cuddle your furry friend more often until he gets fit again quickly. However, you must ensure that he stays away from other dogs due to canine influenza highly contagious to animals he.
And vice versa: can my dog infect me with influenza viruses?
So dogs can definitely get infected with human influenza viruses. Does this mean that they can also pass it on to us humans, so that we can get sick? In Germany This case has not happened yet. But in theory, this scenario cannot be completely ruled out.
Usually, we pass influenza viruses on to other people. Same thing with dogs. Sick dogs can infect other dogs in the home or while playing in the garden. In some cases, a Influenza viruses circulate among different animal species. For example, mutant influenza viruses transmitted from birds to dogs have been observed in China, Thailand and South Korea. In America, even horses transmitted the disease to greyhounds. However, there has been no danger to humans yet.
