Cover Stories Spring 2003

Deadly Kennel Cough Epidemic Spreads from Florida to the Northeast

Florida: An epidemic outbreak of kennel cough spread through Florida dog tracks in March, sickening thousands of greyhounds before spreading to tracks in Alabama, West Virginia, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The first tracks to see signs of the highly contagious disease - Derby Lane in St. Petersburg and the Palm Beach Kennel Club - failed to institute immediate quarantines. The sickness quickly spread throughout the state's kennel compounds and beyond its borders.

The Palm Beach Kennel Club suspended live racing after more than 30 dogs were scratched from the March 22 matinee performance. Two hundred dogs were reported ill; eight days later the number of sick dogs had climbed to 344. "It's an epidemic," said track vet William Dugger.

On Monday, March 19, 100 dogs at Derby Lane were exhibiting symptoms of kennel cough, but the track continued to run matinee and evening performances for the next four days. Derby Lane is the largest pari-mutuel operation in the state with more than 1,400 greyhounds kenneled on site. On March 24, with 400 dogs now sick, Derby Lane announced a temporary suspension of live racing for medical reasons. Live racing was suspended indefinitely four days later when the number of sick dogs had risen to 800 and two greyhounds had died.

An outbreak of kennel cough in 1999 at Derby Lane killed eight greyhounds at three Florida tracks before spreading nationwide, killing another 21 greyhounds as the epidemic swept through tracks in Kansas, Wisconsin, Texas, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.

Greyhound Protection League
Acting on insider information that kennel cough was spreading through Derby Lane and Palm Beach, Susan Netboy, director of the Greyhound Protection League (GPL) issued a press release March 19 calling for an immediate statewide quarantine as "the only way to stop the spread" of the disease. "Racing a dog that has been exposed but is not yet symptomatic may make the difference between life and death," Netboy said. The first of many newspaper reports on the kennel cough outbreak appeared in the St. Petersburg Times March 22.

"Once the press started asking questions some of the tracks yielded to public scrutiny," Netboy said in a March 30 press release update. "The industry is by and large self-regulated; they have clearly chosen to put profits before greyhound welfare," she said. GPL intends to file a complaint with Florida authorities regarding both greyhound welfare and betting integrity issues.

Two Dead at Derby Lane
No Wasted Time, a 21-month-old brindle female greyhound from the Mendheim Kennel, became ill Thursday, March 27, and was taken to Gateway Animal Hospital where she died shortly after arrival. Fast N Fearless, an 18-month-old red fawn male from the System Kennel, died in the track's kennel compound the following day. Dr. Leon Sellers, the track veterinarian, called the death puzzling. "The dog didn't really show signs of being sick."

The dead dogs were transported to the University of Florida School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM) for necropsy. Pathology results released by SVM revealed that two bacteria - Pastuerella and Streptococcus - contributed to the death of each dog.

Sarasota Kennel Club suspended live racing after the evening performance Wednesday, March 26. Approximately 150 greyhounds were reported sick. The track resumed live racing on Monday, March 31, running a 14-race matinee program, but shut down again the following day after more dogs became ill. "We thought we had plenty of healthy dogs. Some had not been sick at all," said Jack Collins Jr., the track's general manager.

Sanford Orlando Kennel Club ceased racing March 31 when 150 greyhounds were sickened by the disease.

The Naples-Fort Myers Greyhound Track in Bonita Springs issued a notice of quarantine preventing dogs from entering or leaving the track until the outbreak was under control; live racing continued, however. "We've had sick dogs for over a month, but we're not sure if it's the same strain (as Sarasota)," said Juan Fra, the track's racing director.

Two hundred greyhounds were reportedly being treated for the disease at Hollywood Greyhound Track in Hallendale. The track continued live racing in spite of widespread sickness in their kennel compound.

Kennel cough spread to the Pensacola and Ebro tracks in the Florida Panhandle, but both tracks continued to run live racing performances. The disease then spread into Alabama, shutting down two of the state's three greyhound tracks.

The Birmingham Race Course ceased live racing following the March 29 matinee performance. Track spokesman Monty Ballard said live racing would not resume until April 17 at the earliest. Of the 700 dogs at the Birmingham track, about 200 are under quarantine, Ballard said, adding that no dogs had died. VictoryLand ceased live racing April 5.

Disease Spreads North
Tri-State Race Track in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, ceased live racing April 9 after kennel cough affected 89 percent of the 1,200 greyhounds kenneled near the track. Tri-State remained closed for more than two weeks.

In early April, kennel cough had spread to Lincoln Park in Rhode Island, causing track management to cut back on its live racing schedule. According to press reports, a Lincoln dog was sent to the Hollywood track in Florida to participate in a major stakes race several weeks earlier and brought kennel cough back to Rhode Island. "The impact that the virus has had on our greyhounds is extensive," Lincoln's CEO Dan Bucci said April 12, "and it's going to take a few more weeks for the illness to run its course."

Bucci said, "All of our greyhounds have come down with it and all are now in a recovery period. The good news is that no greyhounds here have died and the prognosis for a 100 percent recovery rate is excellent." Bucci reported that tests on blood samples sent to a state laboratory in Kansas confirmed the serious nature of the virus strain. "We are exercising extreme caution in order to avoid a reoccurrence of the illness, as happened at some tracks in Florida. We simply won't race until every greyhound here is completely healthy," he said.

Plainfield Greyhound Park in eastern Connecticut canceled the second of two performances on Saturday, April 12, after one greyhound died of the upper respiratory infection, but resumed live racing the following day. The dog's body was sent to the University of Connecticut for necropsy.

GPL was critical of Plainfield for continuing to race dogs. In a letter faxed to Connecticut State Veterinarian Dr. Mary Jane Lis April 15, Netboy wrote, "By continuing to race their greyhounds, Plainfield is ignoring a serious health issue as well as the standard set by its neighbor, Lincoln Park. Lincoln is demonstrating appropriate concern for the health and welfare of their racing dogs by canceling all races for nearly four weeks while the epidemic runs its course."

Netboy urged Lis to institute a state-enforced quarantine and cancel all races for several weeks until all the dogs are deemed to be entirely healthy by Lis' office.

Epilogue: SVM's necropsy results on the Derby Lane dogs were sent to Brad Fenwick, DVM, at Kansas State University. Fenwick, who works closely with the greyhound industry, concluded the dogs died of pneumonia caused by the secondary bacterial infections identified by SVM. In a two-page memo sent to the National Greyhound Association April 4, Fenwick recommended the following procedures to prevent and limit the severity of kennel cough:

• Infectious disease control practices include stopping the introduction of any new dogs; preventing movement of dogs, people, and equipment between kennels; and better kennel hygiene practices, including a two-step cleaning and sanitization process.
• During an outbreak the kennel should be closed for 10 to 14 days after the last dog stops coughing, because of the long incubation period between exposure and the development of clinical disease.
• Dogs that are not coughing but come from a kennel that contains dogs that are coughing or have been coughing less than 10-14 days ago, should be considered at increased risk if allowed to race. These dogs may be infected but not show clinical signs and if raced, can in rare cases rapidly develop secondary pneumonia that can be life-threatening.