A mystery respiratory illness for dogs is sweeping the nation, leaving veterinarians stumped. 

“We’re not quite sure what it is and that's kind of the scary part about it,” Dr. Tom Reeping, of the Crago Veterinary Clinic said. 

To vets and owners, it looks like a typical illness at first but then it doesn’t respond to treatments. 

“Antibiotics are being ineffective with it so they're not quite sure if it's bacterial but they believe it to be more viral,” Dr. Tom said. 

It presents itself like the typical kennel cough with symptoms of coughing, fatigue, fever and loss of appetite. If those symptoms go untreated it can spiral into pneumonia. 

CNN reports that cases have popped up in Oregon, Colorado, Illinois and New Hampshire - but so far it hasn’t been reported in Ohio. With people traveling out of state with their pets over the holidays, it's a concern that people could bring it back to the state. 

“One of the common threads that we’ve seen up to this point is that unfortunately a lot of these dogs have spent time in a kennel, large congregations of dogs, dog parks,” Dr. Tom said. 

With all of the unknowns about the illness, veterinarians aren’t sure what to recommend to try and prevent it but Dr. Tom said it's important to keep your dog up to date on vaccinations as they learn more.