Oak Ridge, TN (WOKI) The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter has closed following an outbreak of the canine disease, distemper.

According to the shelter, four dogs were diagnosed with distemper, an extremely contagious disease that attacks dogs’ respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems.

During the summer of 2024, Young-Williams Animal Center in Knoxville had to close for distemper diagnoses resulting in the deaths of twenty-seven dogs last year.

The Oak Ridge Animal Shelter will be closed until further notice.