I read this on the BBC News webpage and I thought I would spread the news.
"Signs are to be put up in the New
Forest warning dog owners about a mysterious disease that has killed 13 dogs
across Britain in recent months.
The Forestry Commission notices tell owners to take their pet to a vet should
it develop lesions on its legs, paws or face.
Vets say the disease - which leads to kidney failure - is similar to "Alabama
Rot", which was first seen in the US in the 1980s.
The source of the disease is unknown.
However, the Environment Agency has ruled out chemical contamination in water
supplies.
The majority of the dogs that died in the past year were in the New Forest,
but there were also others in Surrey, Cornwall, Worcestershire and County
Durham.
The notices say owners should take their dog to a vet even if the lesions
appear a week after a walk.
Alabama Rot had been associated with greyhounds, but the deaths in Britain in
the past year have affected a variety of breeds.
'Trigger' unknown
David Walker, from Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists in Hursley, near
Winchester, said: "What I would say is that if you see a skin wound on your dog
then don't just leave it.
"Ordinarily you might say I'll leave that for 24, 48 hours - I would say
don't do that, get down to your local vet."
He added: "The dogs that have pulled through seem to be the ones that have
presented earlier on in the disease course. However, that doesn't hold true for
all of the patients, and dogs seems to be affected to varying degrees."
Mr Walker said his practice first saw cases in December 2012 and since then
vets had developed a "much better handle on what the disease is" - but the
"trigger" is still unknown.
He said it was "very similar" to Alabama Rot, which was thought to be related
to a toxin produced by E. coli bacteria.
Lesions on
legs
But Mr Walker said his team had "looked very hard" for the bacteria and the
toxin in infected dogs and not found either.
Alabama Rot - the common name for idiopathic renal glomerular vasculopathy -
only affected greyhounds when it was identified in the US in the 1980s.
The recent cases in England are different because various breeds have been
affected - but Mr Walker said the "pathology [of the disease] is exactly the
same".
Like Alabama Rot, the first external symptom of the disease affecting dogs in
England is lesions, usually on their legs.
More lesions can appear elsewhere on the body, and in some cases dogs can
suffer kidney failure and die."