I shared this on Facebook last week and I think it might be appropriate here

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dale Bush
Date: April 25, 2020 at 7:18:35 PM PDT
To: Jan Cell
Subject: I would like to share with you a story from long ag



I would like to share with you a story from long ago and it’s about dogs and human nature.
In 1980 I was practicing Veterinary medicine in Bend Oregon when we began to hear about a new disease that was killing dogs in Australia and might be spreading around the world. It was determined to be caused by a Parvovirus that is in a class of viruses which includes feline distemper and mink enteritis. It was new “novel” so no herd immunity existed, no vaccine existed and any treatments, by default, would be experimental.
Within a few weeks of first hearing about this new disease a black Labrador was presented to my clinic with a high fever, loss of appetite, lethargy and diarrhea. We sent blood to a lab that could test the feces for the virus “antigen” and began symptomatic treatment. The dog deteriorated and developed explosive foul bloody diarrhea and died on the third day of hospitalization. The test came back a few days later and was positive for what became to be called infectious canine parvoviral enteritis which became simplified to just Parvo.
In the weeks to follow we were deluged by inquires from frightened dog owners and began to see more dogs with a similar presentation: the following year our facility treated probably about 200 dogs with the virus and the mortality was about 50 percent. The death rate did diminish significantly as our ability to treat effectively evolved.
We also began to see newborn puppies become inexplicably painful and die in a matter of hours. This was identified as myocarditis (inflammation of heart muscle) and was also caused by the Parvovirus.
At times we were overwhelmed by dogs with severe symptoms. Most had explosive diarrhea which had an unmatched vile odor and our clinic frequently smelled awful.
The two years following the arrival of Parvovirus in the U.S. were the most prosperous times for veterinarians in history. Not just from Parvovirus but many other ailments suddenly noticed by a worried population of pet owners.
It was fortuitous that the feline distemper vaccine, already in production and a close relative of canine Parvovirus, was somewhat effective in preventing Parvo and gave us a “bridge” while an canine specific vaccine was developed. Parvo has slowly faded into obscurity as herd immunity and vaccination now protect a critical mass of the canine population.
The thing is; most dogs that were exposed to Parvovirus did not show symptoms and the percentage of the dog population that actually died from the virus was much smaller still. Far more dogs were dying of heart disease or cancer or obesity than of Parvovirus but this thing was out there and you couldn’t see it It was a predator stalking your dog (and friend) with intent to kill.
Perhaps you see where I’m going with this. The corollaries are unmistakable. I will be entering my eighth decade In a few weeks and when I hear things like “your more likely to die of heart disease” or it’s no worse than the seasonal flu” I feel dismissed and disrespected while, at the same time, recognizing that some of those accusations might be true.
The mortality rate of any given event does not equate with the degree of menace that we humans feel. Jack the Ripper killed somewhere between 5 and 11 women and terrorized a nation. As many people died in two days in New York last week from Covid19 as died in the 9/11 World Trade Center incident.
Our fear of the unknown or unseen menace is brain stem level stuff and an evolutionary adaptation.
I think the American people want to be warriors in the fight against this contagion. They just need empathetic intelligent leadership . So please take care of yourself, wear a face mask in public and keep off my lawn.



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