BLOOMINGTON - Veterinarians in Bloomington-Normal and at the University of Illinois in Champaign have their noses to the ground to sniff out the cause of a recent spike in respiratory illnesses in dogs that may be related to Hurricane Katrina.

Symptoms suggest a form of kennel cough, a contagious class of diseases that cause coughing and sneezing.

The recent strain is raising concern because it attacks viciously, causing severe distress, and, in some cases, death from related diseases, such as pneumonia, that attack when the infected animal is weak.

Even dogs inoculated against common forms of kennel cough are contracting the disease, veterinarians said.

"Dogs are being hospitalized with pneumonia despite being young and healthy," said Matt Fraker, veterinarian with Prairie Oak Veterinary Center in Normal. He called the situation, "a fairly ferocious respiratory outbreak.

"It's pretty dramatic what's happening."

Tim Anderson, veterinarian with Hawthorne Park Animal Center in Bloomington, said he's examined 10 to 15 dogs with kennel cough since the day after Christmas. Some have a more persistent strain of the illness, staying sick longer and experiencing more serious symptoms. Some have had to be force-fed after their appetites fell to nothing.

"The main thing is - we are seeing some sort of different strain, so we may get a lot of dogs. Even if they are vaccinated, they have no immunity," Anderson said.

Dogs that were recently boarded in kennels where they were exposed to other dogs seem at most risk, said Fraker and Colleen O'Keefe, division manager of food safety and animal protection with the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

O'Keefe noted many dogs were boarded over the holidays, so she is not surprised about a rise in kennel cough cases appearing this time of year.

Fraker wonders if the latest form of the disease came to Central Illinois via dogs evacuated from the area affected by Hurricane Katrina and boarded in area kennels. O'Keefe agreed that possibility is one that must be considered.

Animals living in one area can grow immune to local diseases but transfer them to other areas where animals have no natural protection against infection, she said.

Marcella Ridgeway, assistant professor of veterinary clinical medicine and a small-animal internist at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, said the school's teaching hospital also has seen a recent rise in cases generally classified as kennel cough. Some of the strains causing the infections have been identified, but others have not, she said.

Fraker also worries about canine influenza, or dog flu, which is a relatively new form of an illness that formerly attacked only horses in Florida. But Illinois has seen no confirmed cases of the strain that currently centers on the East Coast, Florida and California, O'Keefe said.

The U of I teaching hospital is a refuge for serious cases requiring oxygen therapy after the sudden onset of symptoms, Ridgeway said. Drugs also are given to relieve symptoms and reduce the chance of pneumonia. Dogs have come from Bloomington-Normal, Champaign-Urbana and south of Chicago, she said.

Former Bloomington Police Chief Richard Ryan learned of the respiratory disease outbreak this week when his Labrador retriever, Hunny, began coughing as if she had something stuck in her throat. Upon arriving at the Prairie Oak Veterinary Center, Ryan was surprised when veterinarians dressed in protective clothing examined his dog in the car to avoid exposing animals inside.

"I just think it's something people need to be made aware of," Ryan said after taking Hunny home with antibiotics to lessen the chance of pneumonia.