Now results seen by this newspaper reveal that 37 dogs were taken ill after walks on the estate. Three died and another three were put down as they were in such pain.
The pets suffered symptoms including vomiting, diarrhoea and lethargy during the late summer and early autumn.
Since then notices have been put up advising people not to walk their dogs.
The Queen takes her corgis to the estate when she stays there for Christmas – although Buckingham Palace refused to discuss whether she has been walking them or taking any additional precautions.
Shooting parties that use labradors as gun dogs to retrieve dead and injured birds are understood to have carried on as normal.
It is not yet known what caused the outbreak, being referred to as Seasonal Canine Illness. Officials at the AHT believe it may be a seasonal disorder as there have been no new complaints since mid-November.
a pattern to the cases. One theory is it could have been caused by blue-green algae or fungal spores.
But the charity has not ruled out the possibility of a bacterial infection or manmade poisons being responsible. The study is also looking into cases of dogs falling ill after being walked in Thetford Forest, Norfolk, and Clumber Park and Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire.
Nationally, there have been 54 cases of illness including ten deaths, but more than two-thirds of cases were at Sandringham after dogs walked in woodland near the two campsites on the 20,000-acre estate.
A spokeswoman for the AHT confirmed that none of the affected dogs was owned by the Queen or other members of the Royal family.
She said: ‘Many appear to be dogs such as labradors, spaniels and terriers which love sniffing around the countryside. There were cases throughout late summer and autumn when it was warm – but they stopped when the cold weather arrived.’
Last night the charity reassured dog owners that the mystery illness seems to have dissipated.
Dr Richard Newton, who is leading the investigation for the AHT, said: ‘We haven’t had any new cases since mid-November so we’re reas¬onably confident that, as we suspected, it is a seasonal problem.
‘We’d like to reassure owners that we think the worst of this illness has passed for this year. The likelihood is that next autumn we’re likely to see a recurrence of cases
so our aim is to arm owners with as much information as we can ahead of that.’
The questionnaires returned to the AHT show that the peak for SCI was in September. The last case reported to the charity was on November 13.
Source: dailymail
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