Mystery illness kills dozens of dogs in Norway

A mystery sickness has struck dozens of dogs in Norway, killing at least 25 and prompting authorities to warn owners to keep their pets on a lead and away from other canines until the cause is established, The Guardian reported.

Ten dogs fell ill on Saturday and Sunday, the national food safety authority said, four of which have since died. While most cases have been in the capital, Oslo, the illness has been reported in 14 of the country’s 18 counties, including the far north.

According to the Swedish newspaper GT, a dog in neighbouring Sweden was also being treated in a veterinary hospital after appearing at a show in the Norwegian city of Trondheim last week. All dog shows in Norway were cancelled this weekend.

The Norwegian Kennel Club said owners were so concerned about the spread of the illness over the weekend that its website crashed under the weight of demands for information. There are an estimated 500,000-600,000 dogs in Norway.

The undiagnosed sickness was clearly “very serious for dogs”, a food safety authority spokesman, Ole-Herman Tronerud, told the public broadcaster NRK. “But we don’t yet know whether this is contagious, or just a series of individual cases.”