Cindy
I just Googled it and also looked on Google Scholar. I got many hits on "Echinacea and autoimmune". It appears there is a difference of opinion on this issue. After I had personally had a bad experience with it, my naturopath advised not using it again. My dogs don't currently have autoimmune diseases and probably it would be better to use it to treat a rattlesnake bite than to worry about it causing them autoimmune disease.