Brucella Canis in the UK: An Overview

[skinnydipper]

Brucella Canis in the UK: An Overview

Brucellosis, caused by the bacterium Brucella canis, is a gram-negative bacterium. It is a highly infectious zoonotic disease (which means it can spread from animal to human) and is the primary focus of this article because of the need to support the veterinary profession, the public and dog...

www.vetvoices.co.uk

 

[paddy555]

one of our vets got this. He died. Not sure if it was of old age because of brucellosis or with brucellosis.

 

[Dobiegirl]

I Have a Romanian rescue and have owned her for about 3/4 years but had an email from my vet saying they would no longer do surgery on my dog unless I had her tested for this. There are 2 tests one is in house and the other is sent off to a government lab, luckily for me and my dog she was all clear. This was instigated by a well known documented case of a fosterer being infected by her foster dog when it gave birth and she came into contact with birth fluids, it also resulted in her own dogs being pts when they tested positive.

This makes me incredibly angry because its all down to irresponsible rescues bringing in dogs without adequate testing, funnily enough CB is not compulsory even though IMO it should be. Some vets here are charging ridiculous amounts for the testing(mine charged me £ 83) whereas Ive heard other people being quoted £300 plus. If vets are going to insist dogs are tested prior to surgery then it should be made compulsory before the dogs are imported.

 

[splashgirl45]

I Have a Romanian rescue and have owned her for about 3/4 years but had an email from my vet saying they would no longer do surgery on my dog unless I had her tested for this. There are 2 tests one is in house and the other is sent off to a government lab, luckily for me and my dog she was all clear. This was instigated by a well known documented case of a fosterer being infected by her foster dog when it gave birth and she came into contact with birth fluids, it also resulted in her own dogs being pts when they tested positive.

This makes me incredibly angry because its all down to irresponsible rescues bringing in dogs without adequate testing, funnily enough CB is not compulsory even though IMO it should be. Some vets here are charging ridiculous amounts for the testing(mine charged me £ 83) whereas Ive heard other people being quoted £300 plus. If vets are going to insist dogs are tested prior to surgery then it should be made compulsory before the dogs are imported.

I think the problem is that some so called rescues (money making organisations) falsify documents to say that dogs have been tested and are clear , good if the reputable rescues test but how do we stop the others from importing dogs, they are making a lot of money by exploiting the dogs/puppies and the people who are buying them . The laws are there but not enough importance is put on them… I wish the UK would put a stop to importing them as it really needs tackling at source , PTS humanely in their own country could be an option for many of these street dogs and neutering would be a good thing . Not sure what the USA do at their borders , can’t be worse than us

 

[Gloi]

I think the problem is that some so called rescues (money making organisations) falsify documents to say that dogs have been tested and are clear , good if the reputable rescues test but how do we stop the others from importing dogs, they are making a lot of money by exploiting the dogs/puppies and the people who are buying them . The laws are there but not enough importance is put on them… I wish the UK would put a stop to importing them as it really needs tackling at source , PTS humanely in their own country could be an option for many of these street dogs and neutering would be a good thing . Not sure what the USA do at their borders , can’t be worse than us

Some rescues just barefaced lie. An acquaintance got a "spayed" rescue dog which came in season and needed to be actually spayed.

 

[Nasicus]

Spotted a post being shared on a local FB group looking for fosters for a rescue dog. That's come from Greece. Travelled through France. And as *just* got to it's destination in Devon.
Which suggests to me there has been zero testing for brucellosis and they brought this dog over without an actual plan in place for it. The mind BOGGLES.

 

[splashgirl45]

Spotted a post being shared on a local FB group looking for fosters for a rescue dog. That's come from Greece. Travelled through France. And as *just* got to it's destination in Devon.
Which suggests to me there has been zero testing for brucellosis and they brought this dog over without an actual plan in place for it. The mind BOGGLES.

It’s scarey how easy it is to bring animals in to the UK. I worry about my dogs catching something if these dogs haven’t been tested. We have done really well over the years to keep rabies out but looks like we are failing with the other diseases

 

[CorvusCorax]

Yet again, my pet gripe...pet and sport dog owners transporting small numbers or singular animals get almost interrogated at ports, while vans full of potentially sick dogs seem to get waved through...I wonder why....

 

[splashgirl45]

Could it be money? Surely not

 

[Jenko109]

My vets have just followed suit.

 

[Dobiegirl]

My vets have just followed suit.
View attachment 117703

I would be interested to know what your vets are charging as some vets are charging ridiculous prices.

Tbh if vets are wearing full PPE when doing ops there is no threat to them.

 

[Tiddlypom]

It is very hot, tiring and unpleasant wearing full PPE when operating, and PPE can fail.

I'm not a vet, but my brother is a human breast cancer surgeon who worked right through the pandemic including well before the vaccinations were rolled out, with only PPE protecting him and the other theatre staff.

If you choose to have a foreign import be prepared to deal with the issues arising.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Could it be money? Surely not

Tbh its shortage of labour, just imagine all the paperwork involved with all these dogs. APHA are fully aware as have very often been tipped off to the regular culprits with no result.

 

[Nasicus]

I would be interested to know what your vets are charging as some vets are charging ridiculous prices.

Tbh if vets are wearing full PPE when doing ops there is no threat to them.

Depending on the procedure, the disease can be spread around the OR through aerosol kicked up as part of said procedure. So the extra time, supplies and precautions needed to ensure the OR is safe following these need to be accounted for. Not to mention the same time, precautions and cleaning needed to be able to safely hold/handle the dog in the practice, in the recovery kennels, when toileting etc in order to keep all the other animals and staff/customers safe. It's more than just a PPE situation.

 

[Dobiegirl]

Depending on the procedure, the disease can be spread around the OR through aerosol kicked up as part of said procedure. So the extra time, supplies and precautions needed to ensure the OR is safe following these need to be accounted for. Not to mention the same time, precautions and cleaning needed to be able to safely hold/handle the dog in the practice, in the recovery kennels, when toileting etc in order to keep all the other animals and staff/customers safe. It's more than just a PPE situation.

Thats very true and Im glad you said that because there are people out there saying its all so un-necessary getting dogs tested when using PPE should be enough completely missing the point that a positive dog will be shedding whilst out on his walk and could be infecting innocent dogs. I was playing devils advocate with saying wearing PPE should be enough as this is what was said to me on a group who were against testing Romanian dogs called in by vets. I was kicked off the group for having the opposite view to them, I was more than happy to comply with my vets request as I also knew it would help establish how big a problem CB was and how many were infected in the UK. This group was advising people not to have their dogs tested and saying vets were using this to make money. Quite a few rescues are saying the same too but then they are non compliant in other things as well as being totally irresponsible in having dogs regularly escape after importing and not having proper RBU.

 

[Nasicus]

Thats very true and Im glad you said that because there are people out there saying its all so un-necessary getting dogs tested when using PPE should be enough completely missing the point that a positive dog will be shedding whilst out on his walk and could be infecting innocent dogs. I was playing devils advocate with saying wearing PPE should be enough as this is what was said to me on a group who were against testing Romanian dogs called in by vets. I was kicked off the group for having the opposite view to them, I was more than happy to comply with my vets request as I also knew it would help establish how big a problem CB was and how many were infected in the UK. This group was advising people not to have their dogs tested and saying vets were using this to make money. Quite a few rescues are saying the same too but then they are non compliant in other things as well as being totally irresponsible in having dogs regularly escape after importing and not having proper RBU.

Ah gotcha, I thought you meant in general!
And yes, the whole 'waling their infected dogs' thing REALLY gets me. There's one local to me that's positive, and considering the breed I doubt they don't walk it, and frankly that terrifies me. These rescues really do need a spotlight to be shone on them and their shady practices.

 

[Nasicus]

Pandemic puppy boom illegal practices persist, say vets

The Royal Veterinary College says illegal acts, like puppies only viewed online pre-purchase, have persisted post-pandemic.

www.bbc.co.uk

And there was me hoping it would some mention of dodgy rescues importing foreign dogs with little regard for biosecurity