El Paso Animal Services believes “overcrowding” is to blame for recent Distemper outbreak

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)-- In a sample test, 60 percent of animals tested positive for Distemper at El Paso animal services facilities. The shelter remains closed after a recent outbreak of Distemper, and Strep Zoo resulted in a temporary shutdown of the facility.

Animal Services was closed this past weekend for clean-up and distemper testing. It remains closed to the public and only open for emergency cases.

"We continue to identify those exposed, we are testing and isolating, with our initial sample testing, when we tested 33 animals, 20 of those came back positive," said Dr. Tony Chacon, Veterinarian with El Paso Animal Services.

El Paso animal services continue to be on high alert after most animals in their care continue to test positive because of Distemper.

"It's a virus that is highly contagious. We sort of make similarities between this and COVID. It's a respiratory illness and it can be spread like wildfire in overpopulated areas," said Dr. Chacon.

The shelter was overpopulated prior to the outbreak, which is proving to be a significant contributing factor in the continued spread.

"So in our shelter, there is overpopulation," said Dr. Chacon, "Likely, the outbreak came from the outside environments. What sort of contributed to the outbreak is the overcrowding, overpopulation of the shelter."

Symptoms of distemper include respiratory issues, sneezing, coughing, nasal discharge, and gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting, and diarrhea. In the later stages, neurological issues such as twitching occur.

Some animals in the shelter already succumbing to the infection.

"So I would say in terms of survivability puppies, much more prone, maybe 50/50. Adults have a greater chance of survival," said Dr. Chacon. "Our main focus is trying to save the most animals. So you will have animals that will succumb to the disease, but we euthanize before them as a last resort."