Fatal disease strike dogs in Midwest.

For the first time, researchers have confirmed cases of canine dysautonomia in the United States, they announced recently. The disorder, which destroys an animal's autonomic nervous system, appeared in 11 dogs, 9 of which lived within a 50-mile radius of Springfield, Mo.

All 11 animals died or were euthanized because of the severity of the illness. An infectious or neurotoxic agent may cause the dysautonomia, report Randall C. Longshore of the University of Missouri-Columbia College of Veterinary Medicine and his colleagues in the May-June Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. They doubt that the disease is contagious.

Animals with the illness have an unusually low density of certain nerves in the autonomic nervous system, says Longshore. They suffer from an array of symptoms, including emaciation, vomiting, difficulty urinating, and dry mucous membranes.

Since the first reported case of canine dysautonomia in England in 1983, veterinarians have diagnosed nine others throughout Europe. The first case of the disorder in the United States was reported in 1991, but researchers never confirmed it. The disease also shows up very occasionally in people, cats, horses, and wild European hares.

The Missouri group's research on the 11 dogs represents the first in-depth study of canine dysautonomia, says Kim Knowles of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in North Grafton, Mass. Whether the disease is actually striking more dogs in the United States or is simply being diagnosed more often remains unclear, Longshore says. At present, no treatment exists.