Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Vomiting outbreak in UK dogs tracked by owners and internet searches
By Woolley, Charlotte S C et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2021·The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Surveillance of a vomiting outbreak in dogs in the UK using owner-derived and internet search data.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
In early 2020, an outbreak of vomiting in dogs was reported in the UK, with many pet owners noticing their dogs were vomiting more frequently than usual. Data from a pet owner platform and Google searches confirmed that the number of dogs experiencing vomiting incidents had increased compared to previous years. This outbreak highlighted the importance of pet owners sharing their experiences and searching for information online, as it can help veterinarians understand and respond to health trends in dogs.
People also search for: dog vomiting outbreak UK · why is my dog vomiting · puppy vomiting treatment · increase in dog vomiting cases
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In early 2020, the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network reported evidence of an outbreak of acute prolific vomiting in dogs in the UK. The aims of this study were to investigate whether there was evidence for a vomiting outbreak in Dogslife and Google Trends data and to describe its characteristics. METHODS: Incidence of Dogslife vomiting reports and the Google search index for 'dog vomiting' and 'puppy vomiting' between December 2019 and March 2020 was compared to the respective data from the same months in previous years. Risks for dogs vomiting and factors influencing veterinary attendance in Dogslife were identified using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: This study confirmed a vomiting outbreak was evident in UK dogs between December 2019 and March 2020 using data from Dogslife and Google Trends. The odds of a vomiting incident being reported to Dogslife was 1.51 (95% CI: 1.24-1.84) in comparison to previous years. Dogslife data identified differences in owner-decision making when seeking veterinary attention and identified factors associated with dogs at higher odds of experiencing a vomiting episode. CONCLUSION: Owner-derived data including questionnaires and internet search queries should be considered a valid, valuable source of information for veterinary population health surveillance.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34008199/