New York, Nov 23 (IANS): A “weird bacterium” may be the culprit behind a mystery respiratory illness seen among dogs in the US, according to a report.

Scores of dogs across the US have been experiencing a mysterious respiratory illness.

Some dogs have died from the illness, which starts with a cough that can last for weeks, runny eyes and sneezing.

Researchers from the University of New Hampshire in the UK said that it could be caused by a bacterial infection that may be very good at evading the canine immune system, NBC news reported.

The team identified the pathogen from a genetic sequencing of samples from an initial group of 30 dogs from New Hampshire who were infected last year and then an additional 40 from Rhode Island and Massachusetts who got sick this year.

The pathogen is “a funky bacterium,” David Needle, pathology section chief at the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at the University of New Hampshire, was quoted as saying.

“It’s smaller than a normal bacterium in its size and in the size of its genome. Long story short, it’s a weird bacterium that can be tough to find and sequence.”

The germ “is new as a potential cause of disease, but it is likely to be -- or to have evolved from -- a component of the dog microbiome”, he said.

Dogs as well as humans have multiple types of harmless bacteria and other microorganisms living both inside and outside the body. In the gut, they are thought to aid in digestion. The initial sequencing showed there were no known viral, bacterial or fungal pathogens.

However, “21 of the initial 30 samples from New Hampshire had some genetic material from one atypical bacterial species”, Needle said.

The team is sharing its results prior to publishing a research article, hoping they will give veterinarians some information as they deal with other respiratory syndrome outbreaks, the report said.