Reuters is reporting that a rabies alert was sent across Canada Monday after a puppy sold at a Toronto-area flea market tested positive, the first outbreak of rabies in the Toronto area in more than 20 years.
Toronto health officials said the eight-week-old border collie, which has died, was from a group of 12 puppies at the market. The other 11 dogs are under quarantine.
The mother of the border collie, from a farm in Eastern Ontario, has also died after contacting the virus from a rabid skunk.
Howard Shapiro, associate medical officer of health at Toronto Public Health, said at least 80 Toronto-area people, who came in contact with the animals, have had to get rabies shots. More than 900 people have contacted a hotline set up since the disease was found in one of the animals.