Warning as dog flu is ‘adapting’ to infect humans – sparking new pandemic fears

TAKE cover next time your dog sneezes - they could be carrying a potentially deadly virus.

Scientists from China have warned that ‘dog flu’ – a mutated form of bird flu - has adapted to make it better suited to infecting humans.

The bird bug, which first infected dogs in 2006, has now evolved to become a mammalian-adapted form of avian influenza, they said.

Bird flu is highly contagious and deadly among birds, but has never been shown to cause sustained transmission from person to person.

However, scientists have long-feared that if the bug was able to establish itself in a mammal, then it might be able to mutate into a strain that can pass from mammal to mammal, including humans.

The latest research into dog flu, which involved over 4,000 dogs, found the bug has morphed to better recognise human cell receptors and replicate in human cells.

“Our results showed that canines may serve as intermediates for the adaptation of avian influenza viruses to humans,” the scientists from China Agricultural University wrote in the .

Six dogs were intentionally infected with the known dog flu strains of H3N2 and each was found to get mildly unwell, with the most serious symptoms including a fever, sneezing and coughing.

Prof James Wood, head of the department of veterinary medicine at the University of Cambridge, told “it is pretty clear” the bird flu H3 strain has now evolved into a dog-specific virus.

“The changes in the canine virus apparently are making it better adapted to transmit within mammals, as you might expect after such a long period in dogs,” he said.

He added that this could be good news for the potential zoonotic infection of people as it has so far not spilled over into humans, but warned this could be because it has not yet reached the required mutation threshold.

“The virus does not seem to pose particularly worrying health threats to dogs - one might be more concerned about the longer term pandemic potential in other species such as humans,” said Prof Wood.

It comes as a pet dog died after testing positive for bird flu in Canada.

Fears over bird flu have been raised in recent months due to the "unprecedented" current outbreak among birds and mammals.

Experts worry the sheer scale of the current spread could give the virus more opportunities to mutate.

Earlier this year, an 11-year-old girl from Cambodia died after catching the big from infected poultry.

Scientists are calling on the Government to create a new bird flu vaccine before the virus learns to more effectively jump to humans.