Distemper Outbreak

By Rachelle Bowden in Miscellaneous on Aug 23, 2004 11:33AM

Animal control officials say that Chicago has had 76 reported cases of the canine distemper virus since April. Compared to last year when the city reported.. uh.. NONE.. that's a lot. It's an outbreak, in fact. And officials don't know the cause of it.

Canine distemper is many times deadly and is highly contagious. The primary mode of transmission of the distemper virus is via airborne viral particles that dogs breathe in so the only way that you can prevent your dog from getting distemper is by making sure it's vaccinations are up to date. The outbreak has prompted Chicago's animal control dept. to start a 30-day moratorium on giving away dogs. We can understand why the break is needed, but what stinks is that it will probably lead to even more dogs dying because more will be put to sleep at the shelter.