Dog found with deadly Alabama Rot in Shrewsbury
A second case of a deadly disease for dogs has been confirmed in Shropshire.
Alabama Rot, also known as renal glomerular vasculopathy, has been called the “black death for dogs”.
The cause of the infection is unknown.
The very rare condition sees wounds appearing on the dogs skin, and can lead to kidney failure if it is not treated.
There has only been one confirmed case of Alabama Rot within the county - in Oswestry in 2014 - although there have been several unconfirmed cases.
Today, experts at Copthorne Vets in Copthorne Road, Shrewsbury, said they had their first case of the disease.
Richard Morris, a vet at the practice, said: “It usually starts off as something like a little wound on the skin.
“What we don’t know is why it then affects the kidneys.
“The main difficulty is that they don’t know what the cause is.
“How do you stop your dog from getting it? Because the cause is unknown, it’s hard.
“The one thing that is recommended to consider is bathing any areas where your dog is wet and muddy, but they don’t know the benefit of that.”
There is an uncertainty over whether the number of cases is going to rise, or whether it will remain a rare condition, Mr Morris said.
But for the first time, he said vets are recommending owners who spot unusual wounds on their dog to contact their vet.
Mr Morris said: “If they have got a wound and you don’t know the cause of it, no matter where it is, they should really go and see a vet.
"That is different from what people might have done in the past. At least then you can be sure.
“What we tend to do is try and treat the wound in the normal way.
"If we’re suspicious we’ll take a blood sample to assess the kidney function to make sure there’s no signs of failure.
“From that point on we’d have to discuss with the owners about the fact that we don’t actually know how it’ll progress – they may decide to have repeated blood samples, or to not having those and see what happens.”
There’s no exact figures on how many cases of Alabama Rot there have been in the country. An interactive map of confirmed cases is available to view on vets4pets.com/stop-alabama-rot
Other outbreaks have previously been seen in Whitchurch in 2014 and Coedpoeth near Wrexham in February 2016.
Residents in Telford were warned to look out for the signs late last year when vets believed they’d found a case in the town.
Warnings were also put up in the Haygate Veterinary Centre, which has sites across Telford, giving owners tips on what to look out for.
In a post on social media, it said that despite the limited number of cases nationally, it was worth watching out for potential cases.
They wrote: “It is important to note that although this disease can be very serious, the number of dogs affected remains low with only 94 confirmed cases across the whole of the UK between 2012 and 2017.
“Many of these dogs only develop skin ulcers and do not progress to kidney failure so recover fully.”
In January dog owners were warned to keep an eye out after a suspected case of the disease in Cannock Chase.
Philip Richardson, whose sprollie Jake died from the disease in November, said he believed many of the cases are misdiagnosed because not much is known about it.
The 51-year-old from Wimblebury said: “I think figures are distorted in relation to the disease.
“I was speaking at length with a vet and they were extremely helpful but her words were that as a vet it is quite frightening because they don’t even know how many misdiagnosed cases there are.”
Mr Richardson’s pet was one of two dogs that died after a suspected outbreak in Cannock Chase in November.
The disease can affect dogs of every shape, size and breed.
However, it is not believed that Alabama Rot can cross over between species.
Humans are not at risk.
Alabama Rot facts:
There’s no known cause of Alabama Rot. Vets can’t agree on whether it comes from a parasite, bacteria or from toxins produced by E.Coli.
The disease was first discovered in the USA in the 80s. At the time it only seemed to affect Greyhounds.
It affects the skin and, if left untreated, the kidneys. Nobody is sure why it goes on to affect the kidneys.
Because the exact cause has not been found, developing a vaccine is not possible.
The cause of Alabama rot in the UK is under study as of 2013 at Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists in Winchester, Hampshire.
Some UK dogs with Alabama Rot have been successfully treated since 2013.
The disease is widely believed to spread via a dog’s feet and legs. The best treatment is currently avoiding walking dogs in a suspected infected area.
