Will you give your ‘flu to your dog this year? Can your business cope if you  or your staff are ‘off work’ for 2 weeks? New data is showing that the US strain of ‘flu heading for Australia is nasty, debilitating and very contagious. In the meantime, there is evidence of further genetic development of ‘Bird ‘Flu’, and recent events in ‘reverse zoonosis’ are highlighting that ‘Flu should be taken VERY seriously if you are in pet business in Australia.

2012 was a “quiet’ year for influenza in Australia – 16,800 notifications in Qld ALONE between Jan & Oct 2012;  366 hospitalisations nationally and more than 20 deaths. And that’s just the number that were reported.   Between 1 Jan and 18 Feb 2013, already there have been 959 confirmed ‘flu cases reported to the national reporting scheme.

The ‘flu is a big risk for pet businesses – they are often short staffed (or sole operators), they deal with the public daily, most pet businesses are 24/7,  and now there’s new information that you might even be able to give YOUR ‘flu to your clients via their pets – or even to the pets themselves.

Called ‘reverse zoonosis’ it’s now been recorded in the USA for the first time, with transmission of H1N1 ‘flu from a person to a cat in 2009; and H3N2 virus from dogs to cats in Korea.  There is a clear message to ensure you stay away from people and pets when you have the ‘flu – which in severe cases can mean severe illness and up to 2 weeks off work.

The other issue is that peaks of ‘flu tend to occur earlier in the season than most people think, with peaks as early as May in the southern states. ‘Flu trends can be seen in some national and international tracking sites, which reminds us that getting a ‘flu shot early is a great idea.

Getting a ‘Flu shot’

Many employers offer their staff ‘flu ‘shots’ as a matter of course. It’s cheap insurance if it is given early in the season. EARLY means Feb/Mar because:

• early peaks in disease can occur
• doctor’s surgeries tend to become transmission grounds for the ‘flu virus later in the season
• many people can actually be incubating the disease later in the season at the time when they get their ‘shot’ but don’t know it.

Dealing with the issue now means that you won’t ‘get the flu after I have the ‘flu shot’ because the vaccine takes up to 2 weeks to be protective ( and the incubation period of the disease is only 5 days)

THE 2013 INFLUENZA VACCINE IS AVAILABLE NOW FROM YOUR LOCAL PHARMACY OR DOCTOR!

If you are over 65, or have any lung conditions (like ‘groomers lung’ or asthma), or any chronic diseases (like diabetes, or high level allergic conditions), or just need to make sure you and your business can continue to function if it’s a bad ‘flu season; then it’s time to get your vaccination NOW.

AND REMEMBER! It has been well proven that your risk of colds and ‘flu are cut by HALF with a good hand washing regime!

What’s the Difference Between a Cold and The ‘Flu?

A cold is a local infection, the ‘flu affects the whole body. So the ‘flu produces fever, muscle pain, headache, dry cough etc whereas a Cold tends to affect only the head and throat.