The Virology Laboratory at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine has confirmed two cases of influenza in dogs in the Knoxville area.
Testing will be done to determine if it is H3N2 influenza, which was recently found in Georgia and Florida, according to a UT new release.
“We know it is an influenza from a dog,” says Dr. Melissa Kennedy, director of the virology laboratory at the veterinary college. “The dog was at a boarding facility in the Knoxville region that housed a dog that had been exposed to dogs from a show in Perry, Georgia where a confirmed outbreak has occurred.”
Owners of dogs boarded at the facility have been notified and are isolating their dogs, according to the news release.
H3N2 influenza in dogs was first reported in Korea in 2007 originating in birds. It was then documented in China as far back as 2006. It emerged in the U.S. in 2015 in the Chicago area and has since been documented across the country.