MONROE - Her name was Amelia.
The 18-month-old yellow Labrador Retriever was spayed June 3 and nearly ready for her adopted family to pick up from the Green County Humane Society animal shelter.
Amelia never made it to adoption.
Shelter manager Tanya Kelly said she checked Amelia at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, June 7, and the dog appeared to be in good spirits.
By 11 a.m. Amelia started to vomit blood, and was taken to Monroe Veterinarian Services.
There, Dr. Megan Jordan determined Amelia was not showing typical symptoms of post-surgical blood clotting and recommended she be rushed to the Veterinary Emergency Service in Middleton, where further testing could be done.
Paul Barrett, president of the Green County Humane Society, took Amelia to Middleton to see Dr. Ruth Clark. She discovered Amelia was suffering from a rare and fast-acting bacterial infection, streptococcus equi zooepidemicus.
Amelia did not respond to medical intervention.
Clark called Kelly at 9 p.m., to say Amelia had labored breathing, was bleeding from the nose, and would not last the night,.
Amelia's suffering ended soon after with a humane euthanizing injection.
The bacteria that plagued Amelia causes dogs to become lethargic and feverish, followed by a rapid attack on the respiratory system.
Symptoms of the bacterial infection that forced the halting of all adoptions at the Green County Humane Society until Tuesday are bleeding from the nose and mouth and acute respiratory disease.
Fortunately, the bacteria is rare, and only a few cases of it ever have been seen, and only in dogs in animal shelters.
"We have seen this strain only in the last couple of years," Dr. Jordan told The Monroe Times on Thursday.
The exact mode by which the disease spreads isn't known.
Jordan said most cases in the United States have been found in large animal shelters that received 3,000 to 4,000 dogs annually. It has not occurred in places such as dog day-care facilities or in people's homes.
The bacterium is "a pathogen found naturally in every cavity to begin with," and has a short incubation period, so routine testing for it is not practical, Jordan said.
The test also is very expensive, she added.
"It's an opportunistic bacteria, and attacks immune compromised animals," Jordan said, such as animals under stress.
A case of seven deaths in June 2008 in Waukesha taught veterinarians the value of recognizing the disease as soon as a dog dies, then treating other dogs with antibiotics before they start showing symptoms. Dogs that showed early symptoms responded to antibiotics and survived.
Dogs at Green County's animal shelter are being given the preventative doses of antibiotic. No other dogs are showing signs of the illness.
Green County Humane Society has stopped all spays and neuters for two weeks, as a precaution.
All dogs at the shelter are in medical isolation until June 16. Only staff members are being allowed to handle the dogs, and volunteer walkers have been stopped. No dogs will be adopted until after isolation has been lifted.
"I think we caught it early enough so it should be under control," Barrett said. "We are keeping our eyes on the dogs day by day."
The first reported case was in a Las Vegas shelter in late 2006, where as many as a dozen dogs a day died before the illness was diagnosed in February 2007.
Other cases have been reported in Miami, Pennsylvania and New York City.
Cats and other small animals remain unaffected.
The 18-month-old yellow Labrador Retriever was spayed June 3 and nearly ready for her adopted family to pick up from the Green County Humane Society animal shelter.
Amelia never made it to adoption.
Shelter manager Tanya Kelly said she checked Amelia at 7:30 a.m. Sunday, June 7, and the dog appeared to be in good spirits.
By 11 a.m. Amelia started to vomit blood, and was taken to Monroe Veterinarian Services.
There, Dr. Megan Jordan determined Amelia was not showing typical symptoms of post-surgical blood clotting and recommended she be rushed to the Veterinary Emergency Service in Middleton, where further testing could be done.
Paul Barrett, president of the Green County Humane Society, took Amelia to Middleton to see Dr. Ruth Clark. She discovered Amelia was suffering from a rare and fast-acting bacterial infection, streptococcus equi zooepidemicus.
Amelia did not respond to medical intervention.
Clark called Kelly at 9 p.m., to say Amelia had labored breathing, was bleeding from the nose, and would not last the night,.
Amelia's suffering ended soon after with a humane euthanizing injection.
The bacteria that plagued Amelia causes dogs to become lethargic and feverish, followed by a rapid attack on the respiratory system.
Symptoms of the bacterial infection that forced the halting of all adoptions at the Green County Humane Society until Tuesday are bleeding from the nose and mouth and acute respiratory disease.
Fortunately, the bacteria is rare, and only a few cases of it ever have been seen, and only in dogs in animal shelters.
"We have seen this strain only in the last couple of years," Dr. Jordan told The Monroe Times on Thursday.
The exact mode by which the disease spreads isn't known.
Jordan said most cases in the United States have been found in large animal shelters that received 3,000 to 4,000 dogs annually. It has not occurred in places such as dog day-care facilities or in people's homes.
The bacterium is "a pathogen found naturally in every cavity to begin with," and has a short incubation period, so routine testing for it is not practical, Jordan said.
The test also is very expensive, she added.
"It's an opportunistic bacteria, and attacks immune compromised animals," Jordan said, such as animals under stress.
A case of seven deaths in June 2008 in Waukesha taught veterinarians the value of recognizing the disease as soon as a dog dies, then treating other dogs with antibiotics before they start showing symptoms. Dogs that showed early symptoms responded to antibiotics and survived.
Dogs at Green County's animal shelter are being given the preventative doses of antibiotic. No other dogs are showing signs of the illness.
Green County Humane Society has stopped all spays and neuters for two weeks, as a precaution.
All dogs at the shelter are in medical isolation until June 16. Only staff members are being allowed to handle the dogs, and volunteer walkers have been stopped. No dogs will be adopted until after isolation has been lifted.
"I think we caught it early enough so it should be under control," Barrett said. "We are keeping our eyes on the dogs day by day."
The first reported case was in a Las Vegas shelter in late 2006, where as many as a dozen dogs a day died before the illness was diagnosed in February 2007.
Other cases have been reported in Miami, Pennsylvania and New York City.
Cats and other small animals remain unaffected.