During 2017 AlabamaRot.co.uk aims to raise £10,000 in donations for Alabama Rot research and mapping.
About Alabama Rot / CRGV
If your dog gets skin lesions or other symptoms consult your vet, without delay. “Unexplained redness, sores or swelling of the skin (on the paws, legs, body, face, tongue or mouth) are often the first sign of this disease.” (AMVS, Feb 2016) After five years, we still don’t know what causes Alabama Rot. From analysis by AlabamaRot.co.uk, we do know that 90% of confirmed cases have been in the six months during Winter and Spring (December - May). Information about Alabama Rot / CRGV for dog owners from Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists (AMVS).
Peer-reviewed Alabama Rot research by Anderson Moores, March 2015.
A review of 30 cases of Alabama Rot asks: “What causes CRGV in dogs? Unfortunately, the cause is unknown at the moment, but there is one strong candidate - aHUS (atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome).”
Continue reading “Peer-reviewed Alabama Rot research by Anderson Moores, March 2015.”
Google Trends - Alabama Rot
Awareness about Alabama Rot has peaked since David Walker of Anderson Moores went on Breakfast TV on 10th May to discuss the disease. The last peak was in January 2014 when signs about Alabama Rot were placed in New Forest car parks.
Google Trend - Alabama Rot - Last 5 years
Interest over time
Numbers represent search interest relative to the highest point on the chart. A value of 100 is the peak popularity of the term. A value of 50 means that the term is half as popular. Likewise, a score of 0 means the term was less than 1% as popular as the peak.
Anderson Moores thank AlabamaRot.co.uk - Reading May 10th Conference
I attended the Reading Alabama Rot conference on Wednesday 10th May 2017. The conference was organised by David Walker and Laura Holm from Anderson Moores. There were 30 attendees and Bayer kindly paid travel expenses.
Today I received a very nice email from Anderson Moores:
Subject: RE: May 10th Conference
Dear Chris
David and I would like to extend our sincere thanks to you for attending the meeting yesterday.
Your input was very valuable and we really appreciate you making time to be there. Thank you also for taking time to look into and print off the case distributions by month / season.
Thank you so much again,
With kindest regards,
Laura and David
Laura Holm BVM&S CertSAM MRCVS
RCVS Advanced Practitioner in Small Animal MedicineDavid Walker BVetMed (Hons) DipACVIM DipECVIM-CA MRCVS,
American and European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine
Information about the Reading conference will be posted online soon.
Chris Street BSc MSc
AlabamaRot.co.uk
Bransgore, Dorset
Alabama Rot on BBC Breakfast TV
Vet David Walker spoke about Alabama Rot on BBC Breakfast TV (from 1 hour 41 mins for 6 mins).
David is from Anderson Moores Veterinary Services and was talking on Tuesday 9th May 2017.
Environmental factor triggers Alabama Rot in dogs with an intrinsic disposition
The Reading Conference on Alabama Rot tomorrow (Wednesday 10th May 2017) is being organised by David Walker from Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists (AMVS).
In a 13-minute report on Sunday 7th, May 2017, David Walker spoke to Rachael Garside of BBC Radio Wales ‘Country Focus’ programme (from 6m 45s). He said:
- In the 1980s only greyhounds in Alabama got Alabama Rot
- No greyhounds in the UK have got Alabama Rot
- Alabama Rot has not ‘spread’ - “it has been everywhere the whole time” since 2012. The localisation in the New Forest initially arose due to awareness of the disease by vets in that area since AMVS of Winchester had been talking to local vets. (8m 33s)
- Damage to smaller blood vessels caused by blood clots causes organs, like the kidney, to fail and to cause skin sores, typically below the elbow or knee in dogs.
- The true cause of the disease is not known, despite incredibly hard work looking for infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. We’ve also looked for toxins in the dog and the environment. (10m 06s)
- Alabama Rot / CRGV has some similarity to some diseases in people so we can use this human data to consider how to approach the disease in dogs.
- With 98 reported confirmed cases of dogs that have lost their lives across the UK since 2012, Alabama Rot is a rare disease. [8.5M UK dog population] (11m 06s)
- “We strongly suspect there is an environmental trigger to Alabama Rot” (11m 06s)
- Since hundreds of dogs will walk in an area but maybe only one dog will contract Alabama Rot, it may be that dogs that have been infected with Alabama Rot have some intrinsic predisposition to the disease and the environmental trigger.
- Washing dogs legs after a walk is not scientifically based advice - but it can’t do any harm. (12m 02s)
- We need more money to do research to try to improve survival rates and find the cause so that preventative measures can be introduced. (12m 57s)
“We strongly suspect there is an environmental trigger to Alabama Rot. It may be that dogs that have been affected have some intrinsic disposition to Alabama Rot…” (11m 06s)
In addition, Radio 4 Today Programme (from 2 hours 57m 30s) had a 2-minute report by Gabrielle Williams whose dog died in March 2017 and David Walker.
Forest of Dean dog has suspected Alabama Rot.
Jasmine Marie Smith has kindly advised me at our Facebook page that her dog Boe has suspected Alabama Rot and is being treated for kidney disease at Woods Veterinary Group in Gloucester.
Jasmine walked Boe in the woods at Drybrook in the Forest of Deane.
I’ve added Boes’ case to our All Alabama Rot Cases map. Let’s hope she pulls through.
90% Alabama Rot Dog Deaths in Winter or Spring
Over four years, 90% of Alabama Rot cases happen in Winter or Spring. This suggests that the trigger for Alabama Rot is an environmental factor such as low temperature or high rainfall.
Continue reading “90% Alabama Rot Dog Deaths in Winter or Spring”