Dogs killed by mysterious disease

A mysterious disease has killed 13 dogs across Britain in recent months.

Vets say the disease - which leads to kidney failure - is similar to "Alabama Rot", which was first seen in America in the 1980s.

The source of the disease is unknown.

However, the Environment Agency has ruled out chemical contamination in water supplies.

Alabama Rot - the common name for idiopathic renal glomerular vasculopathy - only affected greyhounds when it was identified in America in the 1980s.

The recent cases in England are different because various breeds have been affected but the pathology of the disease is exactly the same.

Like Alabama Rot, the first external symptom of the disease affecting dogs in England is lesions, usually on their legs.

More lesions can appear elsewhere on the body, and in some cases dogs can suffer kidney failure and die.