MILLBROOK,
N.Y. (AP) — A parasitic disease rarely found in this country
has killed 21 foxhounds and has sickened at least 20 others, prompting
the national fox-hunting organization to cancel events. The disease
can also affect humans.
One after
another, the hounds at Millbrook Hunt in Dutchess County became
lethargic. Losing weight and patches of hair, the dogs developed
enlarged joints, crusty skin lesions and rope-like knots underneath
their skin.
The culprit
was identified this spring by researchers at North Carolina State
University as a strain of leishmaniasis, typically found in warm,
coastal areas like Brazil, the Mediterranean, India and the Sudan.
Normally transmitted
by sand flies, the disease is considered curable in humans, but
it has killed people in other countries. It has rarely been diagnosed
in the United States.
Among foxhounds,
the disease has been found in kennels in 20 states and Canada,
but only the Millbrook hounds have died.
"This
should not be in the U.S.,'' Edward B. Breitschwerdt, professor
of medicine and infectious diseases at North Carolina State, told
The New York Times. "We're truly dealing with a foreign animal
disease that remains very unclear to all of us still.''
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention is testing people who have
come into contact with the foxhounds in Millbrook and collecting
samples from 10,000 dogs around the country.
While 12 percent
of the 9,000 hounds tested so far have shown some blood-test evidence
of infection, only 1 percent have been confirmed as being infected,
said Dr. Peter Schantz, a veterinarian and epidemiologist in the
CDC's division of parasitic diseases.
The Millbrook
dogs started dying a year ago.
This spring,
the Masters of Foxhounds Association, the sport's national governing
body, canceled all fox-hunting events and urged kennels to quarantine
leishmaniasis-positive dogs.
"We're
being super-cautious, because nobody knows all the answers,''
said Dennis Foster, the organization's executive director. "If
there's any question, we don't do it, that's our philosophy.''
The Times
said the disease probably came to this country when an American
soldier returned from overseas with an infected dog. The disease
was diagnosed in several soldiers during the Persian Gulf War,
the newspaper said.
North Carolina
State University: http://www.ncsu.edu
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov
Masters of
Foxhounds Association: http://www.mfha.com
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