Airborne Fungus Kills 1 in 4

[Riot]

Actually ... I treated a dog with that (crypto, not the new strain) in 1999. A yearling Saluki, flew in cargo hold of airline from Washington state to Kentucky for a dog show. Came down with swollen lymph nodes while here, with a unilateral nasal discharge. So the diagnosis wasn't difficult. We admitted the dog to a 24-hour ER over in Louisville, and it received oral anti-fungal drugs. The fungus "ate" through the back of the nose and into the brain, the dog started seizing. The owner wanted to keep treating, so we did, with antifungal drugs IV. But after 6 weeks, she amazingly recovered, and her owner drover her back home to Washington state.

I remained friends with her owner. The dog developed seizures when she was five years old - associated or not, we don't know - which were controlled by phenobarb. and potassium bromide until about 1 1/2 years ago, when she was euthanized as her seizures couldn't be controlled any more. She lived a pretty good life, however. Sweet dog. Great owner.