Forget Covid, ‘dog flu’ keeps world on tenterhooks

China has reported the first human infection of the H3N8 strain, usually found in horses, dogs, and seals.

China’s National Health Commission has said that the variant was found in a four-year-old boy who showed fever and other symptoms.

H3N8 is a type of canine influenza, which is also known as dog flu. According to the US-based Centre for Disease Prevention & Control (CDC), canine influenza A(H3N2) viruses are different from seasonal influenza A(H3N2) viruses that spread annually in people.

H3N8 viruses originated in horses and then transmitted to dogs. “H3N8 equine influenza (horse flu) viruses have been known to exist in horses for more than 40 years,” CDC maintains. Scientists have said that the virus jumped from horses to dogs for survival and has adapted to cause illness in dogs and spread among dogs, especially those housed in kennels and shelters.

The first case of H3N8 was reported in 2004 as it emerged in greyhounds in the United States.

According to Reuters, the child had been in contact with chickens and crows raised at his home. Whole-genome sequence analyses indicate that the H3N8 virus in this human case is a reassortant, with genes from viruses that have been detected previously in poultry and wild birds.