On the heels of the swine flu comes another warning about a new flu virus, this one though doesn't affect humans, it affects dogs. This virus known as the canine or dog flu is very similar to the human flu.

The symptoms are the same and the dog flu is highly contagious, all it takes is one sick dog for the virus to spread.

"He could walk by the yard and sneeze at the fence and your dog can pick it up without even leaving the yard, very contagious," said Dr. Susan Bloss at Cheyenne Mountain Animal Hospital. Bloss says the last outbreak in Colorado Springs was about six months ago.

"Canine influenza is sporadic, you can correlate it to the human flu, you never know how severe it will be," said Bloss.

And while there are vaccines for respiratory viruses like kennel cough there is currently no vaccine on the market for the dog flu.

"If your pet is very lethargic and not eating and not drinking and they are coughing get them to the vet," Bloss said.

The virus can be deadly in older dogs and dogs with other illnesses, but it only kills five percent of the dogs that catch it.

The best thing you can do to avoid it, keep your dogs healthy.

The USDA did approve a vaccine for dog flu this week but they are still testing it to see if it works. The dog flu, scientists believe, jumped from horses to dogs at least five years ago, but it has never infected a human.