INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — While of a strain of influenza carried by migratory birds that can wipe out poultry flocks is of much more commercial concern to Midwest farmers, there is also canine influenza for which dog owners should be on the lookout.

Outbreaks have surfaced in different parts of the nation the past decade or so and currently, more than 1,000 reported cases of canine influenza have been reported in the Chicago area. The virus is also beginning to show up in northwestern Indiana in counties like Lake and Porter and further south in the Lafayette area.

The good news for farmers is canine influenza is not contagious to livestock or humans, said Sandra Norman, a veterinarian from Indianapolis and member of the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.

"There’s no concern that it’s going to go between the species," she said.

Norman explained the symptoms for dogs are similar to the flu in humans and, in severe cases, dogs have to be admitted to an animal hospital and given fluids intravenously to combat dehydration and medicine to help ease high fever, pneumonia and what can become a very pronounced cough.

Only a small percentage of canine influenza cases end in death, said Norman, who advises pet owners suspecting their dogs have the flu to seek medical attention for them.

Although canine influenza cannot be spread to livestock, it is believed the strain impacting dogs mutated from horses in the early 2000s, said Norman. "It really is a fairly new virus," she noted.

One of the major concerns is the virus can spread rapidly particularly in highly populated cities like Chicago that have a heavy concentration of dogs that, when exposed to the virus, almost always develop the flu.

Norman explained the virus is mostly spread in areas where dogs congregate in large numbers, like kennels and dog parks.

Indiana Farm Bureau spokesman Andy Dietrick said there’s been little, if any, mention of canine influenza in the agriculture community, which is more alarmed by avian influenza killing chickens and turkeys in large numbers in states including Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri and Minnesota (see related article this week). That virus is spread from migratory birds, with fears that Indiana and Ohio will be next on what appears to be an eastward track.

"Indiana is keeping its eye on that one," said Dietrick, who noted Hoosiers are among the largest turkey producers in the nation, with output mostly in the southern part of the state. "It’s so deadly. If you get it in the barn you can pretty much rest assured that within a couple of days your flocks are going to be gone," said Dietrick.

Chris Hurt, a professor in the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, echoed similar sentiments. "We haven’t had it here in Indiana but they’re watching very closely for it."