This is a disturbing story from southwestern, Ohio, where cases of Hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE) may have resulted in the deaths of three dogs. HGE is a strange, uncommon disease that is very difficult to diagnose, and its causes are uncertain. For this reason, state officials want to make sure that they get the word out to all dog owners in the region that they should monitor their pets carefully.
Dog owners who live anywhere near Cincinnati, please be on the lookout for any signs of the illness.
I am an Ohio vet– we are seeing cases of this elsewhere in the state. HGE itself is just a clinical syndrome, not a specific disease, caused by multiple pathogens or stress or even diet change. It is characterized by frank bloody stool and or vomit, and a dog that becomes so rapidly dehydrated that the dehydration does not show in the skin as usual, but the red blood cell counts will be markedly elevated. This makes the syndrome easy to diagnose. The cases the state is talking about are very different from a regular HGE case. There are other signs besides the HGE syndrome. I spoke today to the state vet and the current thinking is that it is being caused by a novel virus. Tests are being done to id the organism. I have seen cases of this and they asked me to submit stool samples. He also said the they were seeing cases from “all over the state.” Very few have been fatal and that one of the fatalities reported was actually a dog that was euthanized.