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| A Pippa in happier times, before she caught fatal Alabama rot disease. Pic: Jessica Worthingtondd caption |
Dog owners are
being warned about a disease that has killed 15 dogs across the United Kingdom
so far this year.
Alabama rot was
first detected in the UK in 2012 and, since then, there have been around 100
confirmed cases across more than 20 counties.
The disease
causes an animal to develop skin lesions which can then lead to organ failure.
In 80% of cases, infected dogs die in just a few days.
According to skynews, Jessica Worthington's dog, Pippa, caught the disease in December 2015.
The two-year-old cocker spaniel was in good health and had been enjoying her
normal walks in woodland near Swindon where Ms Worthington lives.
The veterinary
nurse told Sky News that the disease was "every dog owner's worst
nightmare".
"Pippa was
a little bit lame, so I thought immediately that she had jarred her leg or
something.
"I brought
her into work with me just to get her checked by one of the vets.
"We felt
that we couldn't really find anything significant so I took her home that
evening then the following morning was when I first noticed the skin legions.
"It was
literally like they appeared overnight - from nothing to these horrible
ulcerated red nasty-looking ulcers on her limbs and on her trunk."
Despite
the aggressive nature of the disease, and the high mortality rates associated
with it, little is known about Alabama rot's cause or how it is spread. There
is no known cure either so vets can only treat its symptoms.
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