We found this dog lying on the sidewalk outside the supermarket and he is showing symptoms of a disease called distemper. This is an infectious, viral disease that affects domestic dogs and other canids. It has a very high fatality rate, and with so few dogs vaccinated against distemper here in Valdivia and throughout Chile, the disease is sadly very common. It is a terrible animal welfare problem and is compounded by the fact that it is transmissible to susceptible wildlife as well. After the earthquake and tsunami in Concepción in south-central Chile in 2010, the GAAP attended a call for help in a small town called Dichato that was almost obliterated by the tsunami. Reports were that many dogs were dying from some kind of disease. After a field study in which we took blood samples from sick dogs, we found that there was a distemper outbreak causing the die-off in town. Read more about this outbreak here: mdpi/2076-2615/3/3/843. Stressful events, like natural disasters, can cause population outbreaks of distemper and other diseases. At the GAAP clinic, we are trying to educate people about the importance of regular vaccination against highly contagious and fatal diseases like distemper. If you want to help dogs just like this one, by supporting our vaccination program at the clinic, please contact us directly at [email protected] or donate at thegaap.org/donate/.
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 21:23:46 +0000