Mysterious dog disease claims the lives of 21 animals - and vets don't know what causes it

Animal experts have been left baffled by a mysterious disease which has killed 21 dogs across Britain.

Almost 50 dogs have so far been struck down by the unknown ailment, which causes lesions on the legs and chest, loss of appetite, vomiting and lethargy.

There have been 24 confirm cases in the past 18 months, as well as a further 24 unconfirmed cases - half of which were from the New Forest in Hampshire.

A three-year-old fox terrier called Tegan was the latest victim in the New Forest.

The killer condition also attacks dog’s kidneys, causing them an agonizing and drawn-out death.

Other cases of the disease have also been confirmed in Yorkshire, Cornwall, Worcestershire, County Durham, Surrey and Dorset.

Since December 2012, 11 dogs taken on walks in the New Forest’s ancient woodland have died from the disease.

Angela Larder’s 11-year-old weimaraner, Summer, died after walking in the area.

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Ms Larder, 48, from Glastonbury, told the Daily Express: ‘I feel guilt that our break ended in her death.

‘She was old but she was healthy. The hardest part was watching her die day by day.'I couldn't believe that we'd gone from enjoying a weekend away that resulted in losing her.'

Owner Sarah Thairs, from North Baddesly near Romsey, Hampshire, took her beloved pet Tegan to an expert, but her condition only got worse.

She added: ‘My poor little girl had been through so much. I could tell she was giving up she had lots of blood tests done and then tests showed the disease had gone to her pancreas.'

Vets remain baffled as to what causes the disease, but the condition has been linked to Alabama Rot, the common name for diopathic renal glomerular vasculopathy, which originated in greyhounds in Alabama in the 1980s.

The condition, which also causes skin lesions, but then leads to liver failure and death, is thought to be caused by a rare form of E.coli.

Vet David Walker, who is leading an investigation into the illness, said: ‘We don't know what the disease is.

We know the pathogen is the same as that in a disease first identified in a group of dogs in the 1980s which became known as Alabama Rot.'It is a disease of the blood vessels that leads to cell death and affects the dog's skin and kidneys.

'In a lot of cases the disease is fatal, although some dogs have survived and we don't know why.’