Powys border vet warns dog owners after Alabama rot case

Arrowfield Vet Practice, in Kington, said on Monday (March 25) that a case had been confirmed, although it re-assured dog owners that there is no need to panic.

The UK has now seen 324 confirmed cases in total, with 15 of these cases confirmed in 2024 – Powys has had four confirmed cases in the last seven years.

Alabama rot, otherwise known as Cutaneous and Renal Glomerular Vasculopathy (CRGV), is a disease that affects dogs.

It damages the blood vessels in the skin and kidneys, which causes visible sores on the skin and can lead to severe organ dysfunction and ultimately kidney failure. It affects all dog breeds and doesn’t discriminate in terms of age or body size.

“Unfortunately, we have had a confirmed case of Alabama Rot (CRGV) in Kington,” said Arrowfield Vet Practice in a post on its Facebook page on Monday.

“The results are in the early stages of pathology testing with the specialists and we will issue a full update once this is completed.

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“We want to reassure owners that this disease is still rare – the last confirmed case we had at AVP was February 2018.

“We’re advising dog owners to remain calm but vigilant and seek advice from us if their dog develops unexplained skin lesions.

“Further information and a map of confirmed cases can be found on the dedicated Alabama Rot website www.alabama-rot.co.uk.”

According to the map on the website, the last confirmed case in Powys was in the Glasbury area in 2020. Prior to that, there were cases in Newtown and Brecon in 2018 and one in Presteigne in 2017.