# Dogs getting disease from hogs



## BRIAN1 (Jun 18, 2010)

I have had 2 people i work with lose dogs to a disease they have transmitted from feral hogs. I have not heard of this except in south ga. One vet said it was a form of rabies that makes a dog scratch uncontrollably and thier brain to swell leading to death in a few days. Has anyone heard of this? I thought it was just a story at first, but this guy had to kill all 10 of his dogs last night.


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## Florida Curdog (Jun 18, 2010)

This has happened in a management  area here in Florida too


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## BRIAN1 (Jun 18, 2010)

It is strange. This one fella told me his dogs contracted the disease. I brushed it off as nothing. Then today the other person was out of work because of having to euthanize all of his dogs. The vet has said he wants to send a blood sample to atlanta for more research.


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## TripleXBullies (Jun 18, 2010)

I would think dogs with a rabies shot wouldn't have to worry about this.


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## MULE (Jun 18, 2010)

How do they know it came from hogs?


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## fishtail (Jun 18, 2010)

Sounds like Brucellosis (pseudorabies).
The DNR has been warning for the last 10 years or so about contact with infected swine able to transmit to humans. No reason to expect it wouldn't transmit to dogs also. As a matter a fact there are many articles on the subject from various sources and the symptoms match perfectly as you described.
The DNR stressed wearing rubber gloves during processing and cooking meat thoroughly.


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## BRIAN1 (Jun 18, 2010)

I am not sure of all the details. I just wanted to let the hog doggers know what i heard. I don't do it myself. I only hunt them with guns. It would be upsetting to me though if i had to put down a family pet or work dog.


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## fishtail (Jun 18, 2010)

Just do a search, "Brucellosis hog".


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## seabolt (Jun 18, 2010)

i now some guys that has lost there dogs to suto rabies


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## WolfPack (Jun 18, 2010)

Brucellosis and pseudorabies are not the same thing.  Brucellosis is caused by bacteria and pseudo is viral.  

Yes....I have heard about it.  Pseudorabies is wicked......it does cause sudden death in dogs and cats, no cure.  Adult pigs can become carriers for life and when the dog bites....blood in mouth.....transmitted.  I have talked to a few folks down south (Kissimmee and St. Cloud area) who lost the whole pack of dogs to it.  One fella went out and caught a couple hogs.....locked up the dogs into the kennel, saw that one dog acting weird but brushed it off, came out next morning and all six of his dogs were dead in the kennels.  One of the FWC personnel who traps hogs said they are blood testing them and finding it to spread slowly nortward....however....doesn't matter since people are catching and relocating hogs everywhere so it will spread faster.  Something tells me there will be a sudden shift from catchy dogs to bay only dogs in the future should this become problematic??


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## MULE (Jun 18, 2010)

Wolfpack is correct.

They are not the same. Brucellosis is what DNR has warned about for years. The funny thing is that disease is VERY rare, and there are many other animals that can carry it. It is a reproductive disease.  

Pseudorabies on the other hand is not a rare disease. It also has many animals that carry it too. So my question was how do they know that hogs were they one that infected the dogs. There have been several cases around here where fox and raccoon have tested positive for it. Humans can't contract this disease


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## fishtail (Jun 18, 2010)

Here is a short article from the UGA best describing the difference between the two.
http://www.uga.edu/scwds/topic_index/2004/PseudorabiesBrucellosisFeralSwine.pdf


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## Jester896 (Jun 18, 2010)

i heard a USDA agent say that more than half the wild hogs he tested were carriers along the Ocmulgee River south of Macon to the FL line. I wonder why it is against federal & state law to transport wild untested hogs.  Pseudo rabies is transmitted thru sexual contact among hogs and can be passed thru other fluids as well to other animals on contact it can also render them sterile or did i mix that part up with Brucellosis...anyho both are bad arse funk


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## fishtail (Jun 18, 2010)

Definitely against state law, you would expect the USDA to get involved over state lines.


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## outlaw72 (Jun 18, 2010)

We had a baypen in claxton a few years ago and it never failed if we caught hogs around here that they would come back  with brucellosis one with  bruecellosis hogs could be sold to a kill pen the one with rabies had to be killed and buried.


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## Jester896 (Jun 18, 2010)

outlaw72 said:


> one with rabies had to be killed and buried.



yep...that is protocol

they defiatly do then fish...they just lax in state...btw USDA is a federal entity


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## Boarhunter18 (Jun 18, 2010)

I actually had a dog die from it last year, everyone told me and alot of old timers said it was a thing called Sunu rabies! I dont know if its spelled right but I caught the hog down in duette,Fl.  They said that if the hog has it and your dog gets cut and gets the hogs blood in the dogs blood stream that he doesnt have long.  Its a mite that travels thru the blood stream and works its way to the brain and the dog will try to itch its face off and once they start that they are usually dead within 24 hrs.


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## Boarhunter18 (Jun 18, 2010)

Also I dont know if anyone hunts or knows anyone who hunts in River Ranch down in kissimmee,Fl but I have heard it is real bad in there!


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## Jester896 (Jun 18, 2010)

Boarhunter18 said:


> said it was a thing called Sunu rabies! I dont know if its spelled right   Its a mite that travels thru the blood stream and works its way to the brain and the dog will try to itch its face off and once they start that they are usually dead within 24 hrs.



it is Pseudo Rabies and it is a virus not a mite


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## JohnE (Jun 18, 2010)

TripleXBullies said:


> I would think dogs with a rabies shot wouldn't have to worry about this.



It has no relation to rabies, so a shot won't help.
Symptoms from it make it look like rabies.


They had a bad case of it in Corbett management area in Palm Beach about 2 years ago, killed 30 or so dogs.


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## TripleXBullies (Jun 18, 2010)

My bad. 

Getting in the blood stream would be simple.. I wouldn't think it would take a cut or gash. All it would take is a small tear in the dogs gums.


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## Bkeepr (Jun 19, 2010)

I know nothing about pseudo rabies but Brucella is baaad stuff.  It has possibilities as an agent of bioterrorism and hospital microbiologists are trained to watch out for it.  Problem is, you don't see it often and when you do, on the culture plate it just looks like some common little bacteria that just hasn't enough time to grow so instead of handling it under a biological safety cabinet, it gets handled in the open air out on the lab bench.  If you hear hoofbeats, you expect a horse but sometimes a zebra shows up! 

I used to work at the state public health lab and a coworker caught it from doing the above.  It grew out of her blood cultures.  Even after she got out of the hospital, for several months (6? I can't remember) she had to go back for daily IV antibiotics because Brucella loves to invade the bone marrow and the docs were so afraid this would happen.  The antibiotics had bad side effects.  They messed up her balance so she couldn't drive, and I recall seeing her walking down the hall to the restroom sort of clinging to the wall because she was dizzy.  This went on for months.

People most often catch Brucella while handling infected animals, usually during butchering while handling infected reproductive organs.  It is a venereal disease of animals.  She caught the species found in goats.

Another bacteria considered a BT agent is the one that causes tuleremia or rabbit fever.  The old wive's tale about don't kill or eat rabbits until after the first frost is absolutely true!!!


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## Boarhunter18 (Jun 19, 2010)

Well I was told it was a mite and it worked its way to the brain and thats what causes the dog to try to itch it face off!


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## JohnE (Jun 19, 2010)

Boarhunter18 said:


> Well I was told it was a mite and it worked its way to the brain and thats what causes the dog to try to itch it face off!



That's a big negative


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## mt man (Jun 19, 2010)

its called sudo rabies there is nothing you can do if a dog gets it a buddy of mine lost two dogs it is not like hydrofobia rabies the vet told us a hog is only contagieus two weeks a year but that can be at any time of the year  theres no vaction for it


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## Bkeepr (Jun 19, 2010)

Farmers are afraid of their hogs getting it and other diseases from wild hogs.  I read that in North Carolina the state is considering making hog farmers double fence their hogs (2 fences with a buffer in between) to prevent them from making physical contact with wild hogs.


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## Jester896 (Jun 19, 2010)

Bkeepr said:


> (2 fences with a buffer in between)



ahhh like a prison.  razor wire and all?


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## Bkeepr (Jun 20, 2010)

No unauthorized swapping of porcine spit, I s'pose...

You would think there would be a pseudorabies vaccine.


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## bertdawg (Jun 20, 2010)

Every time your dog comes in contact with a wild pig it has the chance of getting pseudorabies if the pig is carrying it, no cure, death within 24 to 48 hrs. 07-08 hunting season at a WMA where I live 34 dogs died in 2 months due to  pseudorabies. Its a dice game.


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## ATC (Jun 20, 2010)

MULE said:


> Wolfpack is correct.
> 
> They are not the same. Brucellosis is what DNR has warned about for years. The funny thing is that disease is VERY rare, and there are many other animals that can carry it. It is a reproductive disease.
> 
> Pseudorabies on the other hand is not a rare disease. It also has many animals that carry it too. So my question was how do they know that hogs were they one that infected the dogs. There have been several cases around here where fox and raccoon have tested positive for it. Humans can't contract this disease



How do they know if the hogs were the animals that infected the dogs?  I'm not a hog dogger but hunt the hogs the old way, on foot but if a mans dogs are dying after only going after hogs, I'd have to lean towards the hogs as the carrier, I could be mistaken though, I aint no rocket scientist, but I think its a pretty good guess.


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## Jester896 (Jun 20, 2010)

ATC said:


> I aint no rocket scientist,



sok...Bkeepr is


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## Bkeepr (Jun 20, 2010)

I found this link, the Merck Vet. Manual regarding pseudorabies:

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/102200.htm

There is a vaccine for pigs but it uses a live virus.


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## bullsprig1100 (Jun 21, 2010)

The way my hog hunting is going lately, I dont think my pack is at risk!!!!


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## chadf (Jun 21, 2010)

bullsprig1100 said:


> The way my hog hunting is going lately, I dont think my pack is at risk!!!!



Where about you run your dogs up here?
Pm plz!


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## bullsprig1100 (Jun 21, 2010)

PM Sent


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