- Explainer
No, Killer Dog Flu Isn't the Next Human Pandemic
A study about a new strain of canine influenza made waves this week. Here's why claims about it triggering a human pandemic should give you pause.
Rumors are spreading that the next flu pandemic may come from humanity’s best friends: dogs.
On Tuesday, researchers reported that they identified a new strain of dog flu, called H1N1, in dogs from southern China. If H1N1 rings a sickly green bell, that might be because a pandemic of swine flu went by the same name in 2009. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the 2009 swine flu affected over 60 million people in the U.S. and killed more than 12,000.
So if Snoopy has the sniffles, do you need to lock him in quarantine? Here’s everything you need to know about dog flu.
In 2004, a greyhound at a Texas racetrack tested positive for H3N8,
