In the summer of 2023, dog owners across the U.S. began to express concern on social media over a mysterious new disease that was sickening their pets. By the fall, media outlets were abuzz with alarming reports on the spread of a potentially fatal respiratory ailment that was dubbed “Canine Mystery Illness.” Once the story started to circulate, dog owners began closely watching their pets for any signs of the condition.

The problem was—many of the symptoms were common and vague, such as lethargy, coughing, nasal and eye discharge, dehydration, fever, and rapid breathing. As dogs can’t speak, it was up to their owners to subjectively assess their pet’s health. On any given warm summer’s day, it would not be unusual to see a healthy dog panting rapidly or having discharge around their eyes or nose. Ordinary owners would not pay much attention to something as mundane as panting or resting, but now such actions were being seen as ‘difficulty breathing’ and ‘malaise’—confirming evidence that their pet was, indeed, the victim of a strange new ailment.

Reports of the mysterious illness soon spread to other countries, such as the U.K. The events in southeastern England were typical. A report appeared in the Kent Messenger on November 9th, noting that several dogs........

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