Southern Pet Services Ltd provided this report (reposted with permission) on the talk by Laura Holm of Anderson Moores Vet Specialists on 22nd April 2016 at the Bransgore Pet Event :-
“Apologies for the long post, but below are my notes from the talk on Alabama Rot.
The main symptom is normally a lesion, and normally on the lower part of the body, including the muzzle and the tongue.
Effects any breed, although there are some breeds where there haven’t been any cases, and some more so, there aren’t enough dogs for them to be able to tell.
The lesion is due to toxins in the body forming as blood clots, which then block the blood vessels and stop blood getting to the kidneys.
The lesions are often circular, and ulcerated (very raw and sore), in some of the cases where the dogs had lesions but not the kidney failure the lesions were less sore and not so ulcerated.
The dogs tend to lick the lesion as they are painful and sore, they may also seem stiff, lame, go off food and vomit.
Research
There is a seasonal pattern with the majority of the cases being from December through to March, with only a small number in other months.
The cases are now wide spread throughout the UK, and there have been cases from dogs walked in the forest, fields, parks and beaches. The only cases they haven’t seen yet have been from road walks.
The disease is somewhat similar under a microscope to two human diseases –
HUS & TTP. Both of these are being looked into , and the treatments used to treat these are being tested on the dogs, although nothing has been confirmed as a match yet.
HUS is caused by a E.Coli bacteria, TTP is a genetic condition.
They have looked into the possibility that Alabama Rot is caused by E.coli, but with all the bacteria they have tested so far, there hasn’t been any links found, however there are still E.Coli bacteria that they haven’t been able to obtain samples of.
There are a number of studies currently being carried out, the link to the 2 human diseases, E.coli link and another to a Fish bacteria with similar symptoms. They are also in the process of setting someone up to do a 4 year study on Alabama Rot, looking at all different angles.
They have ruled out the following;
- Wells Disease – most dogs with Wells disease responded very well to treatment.
- Lymes Disease – This is the wrong time of year, ticks are around mainly in spring and autumn.
- Giant Hogweed – Again the wrong time of year, and it doesn’t tend to cause kidney failure.
- Military Ordnance – The Environment Agency have done a lot of research into this and didn’t find anything, they also haven’t found anything in the kidneys of the infected dogs. Now the cases are a lot more spread out this is also no longer seen to be relevant.
- Radioactivity – The Clinical signs of Radioactivity aren’t consistent with Alabama Rot, they also feel that a lot more dogs would become ill if it was due to radiation.
- Spider Mite – Again they feel this is the wrong time of the year, as the spiders that can cause these symptoms are found in Europe and the winter here would be too cold for them. They also don’t have any reported cases from Europe.
There is no evidence that a dog can catch Alabama Rot from another dog, and that if your dog was with another with it then its very unlikely they could catch it.
They feel that it is an environmental trigger and seems to be (although not confirmed) linked to high rain fall.
75% of the cases presented with lesions, do not go on to develop kidney failure, however its quite hard to diagnose these dogs with Alabama Rot as there isn’t yet a test to be able to do so, it is confirmed once the dogs have unfortunately died and the kidneys are investigated.
If kidney failure does occur then sadly only 25% of these cases survive, this could be due to early treatment or that they respond well to the treatment compared to others.
What Next – Objectives for the research –
Define the Cause,
If there is a environmental trigger – what is it,
Are there any genetic abnormalities present in the dogs with kidney failure.,
Better Diagnostic tests
Optimal treatment Strategies
Identify a prognostic test – what is the outcome likely to be.
We can help by fundraising for the research, the New Forest Dog Owners Group help to fundraise for this cause. We will be looking to make regular donations as well.”
Sorry, but hard as I try, I can’t trust any of this without links to supporting information. Actually, reading it, I don’t trust it anyway, with or without links. What they say on radioactivity above seems vague, silly and, as we’re talking about radiation - dangerous.
For one thing, how come it has taken till now - four years - for anyone to pick up the radioactivity, rainfall and military ordnance issues? Before became the first to post about these here, I Googled radiation, radioactivity, alabama rot and CGRV just plenty - couldn’t find a thing. Least of all from the vets. Now, all of a sudden, it seems, we have experts on the subject. Even their “feelings” are experts on this (see “they also feel that” above). Doesn’t sound too scientific to me.
I don’t know where they suddenly got this from after four long years, but if they picked up on radioactivity from my posts, why haven’t they answered them directly? If they did not read my posts - perfectly possible, of course - then what exactly have they been doing for the last four years when I could find nothing about radioactivity and CRGV? In short, after four years, who has been “banging their heads together”? About time too.
What does NOT add up, though:
1) Above: “Radioactivity – The Clinical signs of radioactivity aren’t consistent with Alabama Rot”?
I don’t trust this at all: They don’t state which symptoms are not consistent with radiation, and I don’t think they can. I am not saying this IS radiation. They are the ones saying that it’s NOT - so I challenge them to prove it. I’m always ready to learn.
2) “They also feel that a lot more dogs would become ill if it was due to radiation.”
“They…FEEL”? What kind of science is that?
I’ll tell you what. For people that haven’t a Scooby Doo (clue) what the h*** is causing this, or how to protect our dogs from it, they are mighty sure of their feelings, aren’t they?
Well I “feel” that QUITE ENOUGH dogs have died. Don’t you? Enough for them to thoroughly investigate everything, including radioactivity (you know, lesions, organ failure, and so on - Google it yourselves).
Also: “a lot more dogs would become ill”? Well they are the experts, I suppose. So exactly HOW MANY dogs DO have to die, then, before you STOP ruling out radioactivity? How many dead dogs do we have to bring in? How many more have to die before you STOP ruling it out because not enough have died?
Not very reassuring is it? How long are they going to wait, then till it’s 1%, 5%, HALF the dogs before they check fo this perfectly obvious possible cause. - that no-one seems to have thought of for FOUR YEARS?
Yes, I know. it might not be radiation. But then again, it just might. Does not convince me. How about you?
Having evaluated the confirmed cases data suspplied by Anderson Moores Vet Specialist I recognised the following :
In 2013 11 cases reported. All Cases in Jan. to May and in Oktober to December. None werde reported during June to September.
In 2014 34 cases reported. 88% of then in Jan. to Mai und
Oktober to December. Only 4 cases in June up to September .
In 2015 23 cases reported. All of then again during the period of Jan. to Mai und Oktober to December. None reported during the summer months of June / Juli /Aug. and September.
In 2016 in Jan up to April 8 cases.
It clearly shows , that the summer months are almost absent
of any cases. This must mean something and it should be concernd when wondering what causes it to break out.
Certainly no radiation or raw meat and all the other speculated reasons. Im not a medic nor vet . But common sense for me is that it has something to do with the months
in which it accures.
I clearly feal sad for those are hit by this terrible desease.
But I , as a long time tourist to the UK, will only visit the UK
in July and August. Avoiding certain regions lets us have a possitive aproach to all of this. Roughly 20 to 30 dogs per year compaired to the thausands who do not recieve
any problems is not going to trigger any real medical research at all. For the industry, its just not relevant compared to the cost to be invested. Again, money rules it all.
Hi Bobby,
thanks for your analysis. Much appreciated.
Hi Bobby,
Great to have your comment, “certainly no radiation” but I wonder how you can be so certain. I cannot see anything there that disproves radiation as a cause of CRGV. Would you care to make yourself a little clearer?