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Canine Parvovirus Infection

Parvovirus is a HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS virus that attacks the intestines and causes sloughing of the inner layers of the intestine.  The most common symptoms of this disease (the “intestinal form”) are vomiting and diarrhea.  Another less common form, the “cardiac form”, occurs in very young pups (less than 8 weeks of age) and attacks the heart muscle, often resulting in sudden death. 

Parvovirus is contagious to dogs only—not to cats or people.  Any age, breed, or sex of dog could be affected by parvovirus.  However, infection with parvovirus does not automatically mean illness.  Several factors such as age, environment, stress, parasites, and general health status of each individual dog infected could affect the severity of the disease.  The degree of illness could range from very mild to unapparent to very severe, often resulting in death.  The disease is usually more severe in young dogs (less than 6 months of age), old dogs, Rottweilers, and Dobermans.  The younger and smaller the dog, the greater the chance that it will not recover.

Parvovirus is resistant to extremes of temperature (i.e., it survives freezing and extreme heat) and is unharmed by detergents, alcohol, and common disinfectants.  Direct transmission occurs when an infected dog comes in contact with a healthy dog.  The virus is found in heavy concentration in the infected dog’s stool.  Because dogs will usually sniff where another dog has eliminated, this fecal-oral transmission is the most common method of transmission.   The virus particles can be easily spread by hands, shoes, clothing, or other inanimate objects (fomites)—this is an indirect source of transmission.

As many as 30 billion parvovirus particles can be shed from the intestines of an infected dog in every ounce of stool.  The highest concentration of virus in the stool is seen when the infected dog is showing signs of illness.  A dog can, however, be a source of infection to other dogs without it having observable signs of illness (the disease may be incubating).  Transmission can occur for at least 3 weeks after a dog becomes infected with the virus.  Chronic “carriers” are not known to exist as in other viral diseases.  Parvovirus in the environment can infect susceptible dogs for as long as 6 months once shed in the stool. 

Clinical signs include vomiting, fever, loss of appetite, depression, and bloody diarrhea with a very foul odor.  Infected animals rapidly dehydrate and severe cases progress to shock and death.  Early, vigorous treatment of illness caused by canine parvovirus infection can save lives. 

Intestinal form (any age dog affected, but more severe in puppies):

• Depression
• Loss of appetite

• Fever (usually above 103F)

• Vomiting with or without blood

• Diarrhea with or without blood (more serious if blood present) 

• Low white blood cell count (due to immunosuppression) 

  Treatment is aimed at maintaining the normal body composition and preventing secondary bacterial infection.  Because this is a virus, there is NO CURE.  Death from parvovirus results from dehydration, overwhelming secondary bacterial infection, blood loss from intestinal hemorrhage, or heart attack from invasion of the heart muscle by the virus. 

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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