28 Oct 2021
Site offers advice and information about cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy to both pet owners and veterinary professionals, including a live map of confirmed cases across the UK.
James Westgate
Job Title
David Walker.
The UK’s leading veterinary authority on cutaneous and renal glomerular vasculopathy (CRGV) has launched a website dedicated to the potentially fatal disease.
Anderson Moores Veterinary Specialists in Winchester has been leading research into the devastating disease since 2012 and has collated information on all confirmed cases across the country.
The disease, which originally appeared in the late 1980s, was first detected in the UK in 2012. When it affects the kidneys, it has a 90% mortality rate.
The new site offers advice and information about CRGV, commonly known as Alabama rot, to both pet owners and veterinary professionals, including a live map of confirmed cases across the UK.
David Walker, American, RCVS and European Board of Veterinary Specialisation specialist in small animal internal medicine, leads the team at Anderson Moores and is the UK’s foremost authority on the disease.
He said: “We have been at the forefront of research into CRGV for almost a decade now and have witnessed first-hand the often-devastating effects of the disease.
Dr Walker added: “In launching this new website, we aim to inform pet owners and colleagues in the veterinary industry about CRGV.
“We hope the confirmed case map will prove useful. Although an environmental trigger has not been definitively proven, the seasonality of the disease makes it eminently possible and the map allows everyone to see the location of confirmed cases.”
So far this year, Anderson Moores has recorded a total of 26 confirmed cases of CRGV.
This number comes on the back of 47 confirmed cases during 2020, 19 cases in 2019 and 18 in 2018. A total of 277 cases have been confirmed since the disease was first recognised in the UK in 2012.
Dr Walker added: “Unfortunately, we find ourselves in the time of year when cases are most commonly identified – 92% of dogs with the disease are seen between November and May.
“This is understandably a concern for dog owners; however, the disease remains rare. Hopefully the new website will provide useful information for anybody that wants to know more about the disease.”
The new site is online now.
