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Complicating the situation, No one knows how many owners with sick dogs haven't visited a veterinarian because they have no way to get there, feel they can't afford it, or their pet doesn't seem sick enough. In fact, like people with the flu, most dogs recover. Those who don't can develop pneumonia and even die.

According to Alexander, eight dogs officially diagnosed with H3N2 have died in the Chicago area, but she suggests the total is likely higher. It seems the mortality rate for the H3N2 strain is about one to three percent.

"That's very low, but not if it's your dog," Marks adds. No one knows how many dogs have succumbed nationwide from this new strain of flu. In Atlanta, 150 dogs have tested positive for flu. However, internal medicine specialist Dr. Laura Smallwood believes the "real world" numbers are likely much higher.

At Smallwood's clinic in Decatur, GA, since mid-June, 70 dogs have been seen with respiratory symptoms, but 40 owners declined testing for their pets. Of the remainder who did test, seven dogs were positive for H3N2.

The good news is, flu cases appear to be limited to the city of Atlanta; so far, the suburbs have mostly been spared. Also, the numbers of coughing dogs entering clinics in Atlanta is now quickly diminishing.

"We learned a lesson from Chicago; getting on the media, telling people to keep their dogs away from other dogs," Smallwood says.

So, how bad will the dog flu outbreak get? Will New York suffer the same fate as Chicago? Dr. Melissa Bourgeois, a specialist in microbiology and Senior Specialist for Drug Safety at Merck Animal Health, says she's not surprised by the spread of flu. However, the nature of how it spreads is impossible to predict.

It's known that in Asia H3N2 can also affect cats, and it finally has here, as two unrelated cats adopted from a New York City shelter showed symptoms this month.

"Only one cat was tested for flu," says Dr. Alexis Seguin, internal medicine specialist, Medical Affairs-Molecular Diagnostics and Medical Information Integration Specialist at IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, ME. "The confirmed positive cat has had a full recovery, although her housemate has some continued mild chronic cough."

It's unknown whether the current dog flu vaccine (created for the H3N8 strain) will cross-protect dogs from H3N2. Still, many veterinarians are recommending the H3N8 vaccine, hoping it may be protective against the new strain.

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