Vets on alert for dog disease that can spread to humans as number of imports of ‘Trojan’ puppies soars
‘We need more mandatory checks and people must take more care where they are sourcing their dogs from’
THE trend for lockdown puppies has led to vets being put on alert for a new disease that can jump from dogs to humans.
Huge demand for pets saw puppy imports double from some countries, resulting in a marked increase in cases of brucellosis in dogs.
The bacterial infection is incurable in canines and most are put to sleep, but people can be treated with antibiotics. However, in some cases the infection can remain for life.
Public Health England last night said 250 people had been tested for the disease but no one had returned a positive result.
Government health and animal welfare officials have now stepped up surveillance, and every laboratory in Britain has been instructed to report all positive tests for the disease.
In the past year, approximately 60 cases have been confirmed in dogs, compared with just three previously – two in 2017 and one in 2018.
Most at risk are the owners of infected dogs, breeders, vets and their staff who come into contact with the animals or their body fluids – especially dogs that have just given birth to puppies. Symptoms include fevers and chills, and general malaise. Children under five, pregnant women and anyone with a compromised immune system can suffer chronic illness.
Most cases have been found in rescue dogs that were street strays in Romania. The number of commercial dog imports from Romania increased last year to 29,348, compared with 19,480 in 2019.
The increase in cases has given extra urgency for the Government to speed up plans to tighten puppy immigration controls. The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and the Dogs Trust are also calling on ministers to make compulsory the pre-import screening of all dogs entering the country to prevent further spread of the disease.
Dr Neil Hudson, a Conservative and the only MP who is a qualified vet, is demanding “the most stringent health checks” on dogs coming into Britain.
“There has been a massive increase in imported dogs during the pandemic and this has some unintended consequences. Brucellosis is a health risk for dogs and people. We need more mandatory checks and people must take more care where they are sourcing their dogs from,” he said.
Daniella Dos Santos, senior vicepresident of the BVA, confirmed that vets were increasingly concerned about disease risk from imported dogs.
“These so-called Trojan dogs arrive in the UK often with no health records. Some charities carry out pre-import testing but there’s no requirement to do so for diseases not commonly found in the UK, potentially putting the British dog population at risk,” she said.
“In some cases, like canine brucellosis, there’s an added risk for public health, including our veterinary teams who treat and handle these animals.”
She advised anyone wishing to rehome a dog to choose a UK-based charity and called for “urgent action from the Government to introduce mandatory pre-import testing of dogs coming into the country”.
MPs are to take part in a petitions committee animal welfare debate tomorrow, and the Government is to publish its Kept Animals Bill, cracking down on puppy smuggling and importation rules, shortly.
There was no response from Public Health England, but a Defra spokesman said: “Now the transit period has ended, we have the opportunity to go further than ever [in legislation] and our Action Plan for Animal Welfare pledges to end the abhorrent practice of puppy smuggling and low-welfare pet imports.”