Rapid spread of dog disease can be stopped.

• Position: Canines

Dogs are not exactly famous for their personal hygiene or for maintaining a respectful distance from their canine pals. With a nuzzle, a shared ball, or a bark, a dog battling a bug easily can pass it to other hounds and, in some cases, people. This becomes especially worrisome in group settings, such as dog parks and shows, as well as doggie daycare, where animals can spread illness rapidly and then carry it back into their homes and neighborhoods. Protocol for keeping disease transmission at bay has, until now, lagged decades behind efforts to contain human infectious disease.

Guidance for halting the spread of a multitude of dog diseases is available from veterinary specialists from Ohio State University, Columbus. The advice is intended to be a tool for those in charge of canine group settings and for dog owners, notes Jason Stull, assistant professor of veterinary preventive medicine. "When you have many dogs in a fairly confined space, the opportunities for disease transmission are everywhere."

Stull and his collaborators, at the urging of the American Kennel Club, New York, want their work to lead to written infection prevention and control plans for settings where dogs congregate. "In veterinary medicine, we're probably 30 years behind in our infection control efforts compared to human medicine, but a lot of the risks really can be managed with some simple steps."

Among the recommendations:

* Dogs with signs of infection should be kept out of group settings.

* People who touch dogs in group settings--such as handlers, staff...