# Parvovirus Outbreak!!!



## aoife (Nov 18, 2008)

Hey, just thought i would inform all who does not know about the sudden outbreak of the deadly Parvovirus in melbourne. My friend has just lost her 8 week old puppy to this and has another one on the operating table. It is not just contracted by interation with other dogs but from being where in infected one has been. 

Please read article below:

*DOG owners are being urged to ensure their animals are immunised against the deadly canine disease parvovirus after a recent outbreak in the Maribyrnong municipality.

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) issued the warning for the disease, a contagious virus spread from dog to dog by physical contact and contact with faece. It can be especially severe in puppies.

Maribyrnong Veterinary Clinic’s Dr Caitlin Horwood, who has worked in the Maribyrnong/Essendon area for many years, said she usually only sees one confirmed case a year, but she recently saw two confirmed cases in Maribyrnong in the space of one week.

AVA Victorian president Dr Roslyn Nichol said veterinarians around a localised region of western Melbourne had reported seeing a small number of dogs which required treatment and were concerned about the potential for a disease outbreak.

“Parvovirus is a highly infectious disease that affects mainly young dogs and is often fatal in puppies, but any dog may develop the disease,” Dr Nichol said.

“We are particularly concerned, because we do not usually see many cases of parvovirus at this time of year. 

“Dogs that have not recently been vaccinated are at risk of contracting this very unpleasant disease which is difficult to treat.”

“If owners notice symptoms of bloody diarrhoea, vomiting, loss of appetite and depression in their dog, they should take them to their veterinarian immediately.

“Affected animals often require intensive treatment in hospital. If any contact has been made with an infected case, owners should seek veterinary advice,” Dr Nichol said.

Dr Horwood said along with the two confirmed parvovirus cases reported in the space of one week recently, there were about six gastro type cases at the Maribyrnong Veterinary Clinic.

She said such outbreaks could be the result of owners simply forgetting to vaccinate their dogs against the disease.

Dr Horwood said while warm weather was not directly linked to parvovirus outbreaks, the recent good weather encouraged owners to take dogs out for walks, where they could come in contact with parvovirus-infected faeces.

She said there was also a danger in moving dogs into a new environment where new owners were unaware if there had been parvovirus cases.

“People don’t realise how long the virus can last in the environment (nine months or more),” Dr Horwood said.

The main prevention and control measure for parvovirus is immunisation.

Puppies should start their vaccination program at six to eight weeks followed by their adult vaccine at 12 to 14 weeks. 

All dogs should have a yearly veterinary check and booster vaccination as recommended by their veterinarian.
*

Please call the vet to double check that your pups & dogs are up to date.

Thanks for reading, i know it is a large article. Sorry if i posted in the wrong area.


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## jessb (Nov 18, 2008)

I feel like making copies of this and handing it to every idiot I see walking tiny, new (unvaccinated) puppies around the streets!


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## Vixen (Nov 18, 2008)

jessb said:


> I feel like making copies of this and handing it to every idiot I see walking tiny, new (unvaccinated) puppies around the streets!


 
Exactly, it annoys me too. Ive never owned a dog before but even I know a puppy should be vaccinated before being taken out and about socialising, its not that long to wait.


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## Crazy_Snake08 (Nov 18, 2008)

I almost lost mine with parvo. The vet said he was on the blink of passing...

Now, strong as an Ox!!!


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## aoife (Nov 18, 2008)

Crazy_Snake08 said:


> I almost lost mine with parvo. The vet said he was on the blink of passing...
> 
> Now, strong as an Ox!!!


 

That's good to hear that he survived, what kind of pup you got?


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## Tatelina (Nov 18, 2008)

You can't vaccinate effectively against the parvo virus! 
There are too many strains of it... Parvo is much more prevalent then people realise...


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## Helikaon (Nov 18, 2008)

Tatelina said:


> You can't vaccinate effectively against the parvo virus!
> There are too many strains of it... Parvo is much more prevalent then people realise...




you can vaccinate against it, jeese theres a lot of wives tails around. and there is not many strains of it at all. but you are correct it is considered to be in nearly all environments. its just a matter of coming into contact with enough virus to get the dog sick. if you vax at the right intervals and keep the dog away from adult and other un vaxcinated dogs untill 2 weeks after the final vax then youw ill be fine.


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## jessb (Nov 18, 2008)

Helikaon said:


> jeese theres a lot of *wives tails* around.


 
Are they myths that are only related to dog care?


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## JasonL (Nov 18, 2008)

My mate lost his dog 3 months after it's 12 week vacs, a dog he waited 12 months to get..He picked it up at a off leash dog park, now every dog owner knows to keep clear of such places..... Most vacinations arn't 100%.


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## RedEyeGirl (Nov 18, 2008)

My dogs 3.Will he be OK.Is it only for pups.He is still pretty young


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## Helikaon (Nov 18, 2008)

JasonL said:


> My mate lost his dog 3 months after it's 12 week vacs, a dog he waited 12 months to get..He picked it up at a off leash dog park, now every dog owner knows to keep clear of such places..... Most vacinations arn't 100%.



theres obviously going to be exceptions, did it have its 16 week vaccination?? but its is deffinitely less likely if vaccinated and the symptoms should be less severe


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## JasonL (Nov 18, 2008)

If it's up to date with it's injections, it should be... Oh seeing's as your a local, my mates dog picked it up at Kirrawee dog park, it was about 4-5 years back now though...


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## Tatelina (Nov 19, 2008)

Helikaon said:


> you can vaccinate against it, jeese theres a lot of wives tails around. and there is not many strains of it at all. but you are correct it is considered to be in nearly all environments. its just a matter of coming into contact with enough virus to get the dog sick. if you vax at the right intervals and keep the dog away from adult and other un vaxcinated dogs untill 2 weeks after the final vax then youw ill be fine.



I will say again.* You cannot effectively vaccinate against parvo.*

More often than not, a dogs own immunity system which develops as it ages will provide protection but like I said... there are many strains of it around anyway so it's often commonsense and pot luck. 

Any vets care to comment?


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## Helikaon (Nov 19, 2008)

Tatelina said:


> I will say again.* You cannot effectively vaccinate against parvo.*




and i'll say it again, thats BS back that statement up with atleast a shred of evidence before i will give it any credit.


there are not many strains of it, this is not the common cold there is only a very few strains if the vaccine wasn't effective we would be seeing thousands of cases of this. and if it was a new strain as you are saying adults with immunity would be contracting it over and over again.


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## wood_nymph (Nov 19, 2008)

sydeny had a massively bad outbreak of it 2 years ago as the weather warmed up, but it looked like a new resistant strain. Our vet saw cases of adults dogs fully vaccinated dying of it. some pet shop in the eastern suburbs basically had to shut down their puppies sections since it was practically impossible to contain.


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## sengir (Nov 19, 2008)

Tatelina said:


> I will say again.* You cannot effectively vaccinate against parvo.*
> 
> More often than not, a dogs own immunity system which develops as it ages will provide protection but like I said... there are many strains of it around anyway so it's often commonsense and pot luck.
> 
> Any vets care to comment?


 

Parvo virus can be effectively vaccinated against. It depends on the type of vaccination a dog was given as there is a live vaccination and a dead vaccine. Some vets use either or depending on history of parvo around the area.

But the main point is parvo virus CAN BE EFFECTIVELY vaccinated AGAINST.


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## Helikaon (Nov 19, 2008)

wood_nymph said:


> sydeny had a massively bad outbreak of it 2 years ago as the weather warmed up, but it looked like a new resistant strain. Our vet saw cases of adults dogs fully vaccinated dying of it. some pet shop in the eastern suburbs basically had to shut down their puppies sections since it was practically impossible to contain.




if it were infact a new resistant strain it would have been recorded. if you can point me to an article that would be great, its just that a dog will go to a park that is infected, it will drop the virus in amounts that can get any dog that might be slightly immunosupressed infected. its all about picking up enough viral particles to get sick. in most healthy up to date vaccinated dogs they can fight it off easily. but people dont keep there dogs up to date, there are a crap load of stray dogs running around. and pet shops dont help at all either. and the insane breeders out there who tell there buyers that vaccines dont work dont help either. its like up here, the vet industry tells you that you shouldnt be seeing any cases unless you are in a low socioeconomic area funny how true it is to. 

its like in america where they decided that you would only need to vaccinate an adult dog once every 3 years, and the suddenly the parvo cases went through the roof.


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## JasonL (Nov 19, 2008)

Helikaon said:


> theres obviously going to be exceptions, did it have its 16 week vaccination?? but its is deffinitely less likely if vaccinated and the symptoms should be less severe



It was fully up to date, it was a rare breed (don't ask me what, it was just a small crappy terrier to me  ), he paid big dollars for it, and even bigger dollars to try and save it, It was fully immunised...supposedly..


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## Helikaon (Nov 19, 2008)

JasonL said:


> It was fully up to date, it was a rare breed (don't ask me what, it was just a small crappy terrier to me  ), he paid big dollars for it, and even bigger dollars to try and save it, It was fully immunised...supposedly..




thats unlucky, really sucks because with nowadays treatments with plasma therapy it is very successful. granted it would be better if we were legally aloud to store blood. sucks that he lost it though.


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## JasonL (Nov 19, 2008)

Helikaon said:


> thats unlucky, really sucks because with nowadays treatments with plasma therapy it is very successful. granted it would be better if we were legally aloud to store blood. sucks that he lost it though.



Yeah, he had dogs most of his life, but he had trouble coming to terms with that loss and hasn't "got back on the horse" so to speak, it really crushed him.


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## LullabyLizard (Nov 19, 2008)

I hope no dogs owned by people here (or anywhere!) get it! :|


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## the.badger (Nov 19, 2008)

Being the paranoid person that I am, I was particularly paranoid about my pup picking up parvo when we got her about a year ago, and didn't want to take her to puppy pre-school as I thought it was a massive risk for her to be around other un-immunised dogs. Our vet said that in our area (Dandenong Ranges) the risk is so minimal it would be more detremental to risk an antisocial dog than to risk getting parvo - he said if we were in the Western suburbs it would be a different story. Does anyone know why some areas are more severely affected than others? Is it really a socio-economic thing? I'm not sure I entirely belive this as we're all pretty poor out east too!

Oh and another thing, our vet said rotties in particular don't hold up too well, so it wouldn't hurt to be extra careful if you keep rotties.


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## aoife (Nov 28, 2008)

most puppy pre-schools & general obediance courses require you to bring you vaccine card from the vet to prove that they have had there injections. If they don't ask for it, then go to another course.
Better to be safe than sorry i say.


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## dragozz (Nov 28, 2008)

I have a number of dogs and go to dog shows often. Not only the breeders will tell you that the vaccination against parvo is not 100% but all the vets I went to also. It does however significantly reduce the chances of dogs getting parvo. So obviously you want to vaccinate them for that, but still it doesn't give you 100% guarantee. Since it is a VIRUS it can develop new strains.


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## bundy_zigg (Nov 28, 2008)

The virus has 3 basic strains:
1. CVP2 which was the first one found in 1978
2. CVP2a came on the scene in the early 80's
3. The strain most prevalent today is CVP2b
Eventually a new strain will appear because the virus will adapt to the immune system of dogs.
The parvovirus can linger in the environment for many months, allowing it to affect other dogs. It can withstand common household disinfectants (except bleach) and can withstand freezing winter temperatures. It can be spread on the hair and feet of dogs, in addition to shoes, clothes, and eating utensils.
We tend to see parvo in dogs that have other diseases, especially intestinal parasites (worms). This might be because these dogs have immune systems that are weakened, making them more susceptible to a viral infection. Also, the parvo virus capitalizes on the fact that the lining of the intestines of these dogs with intestinal parasites are damaged and susceptible to the parvovirus.


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## bundy_zigg (Nov 28, 2008)

http://conferences.vu.edu.au/VetVirol/Images/Presentations/Meers.pdf this is a good rough background of parvovirus for anyone who wishes to read it.

I would also like to add that with young pups the antibodies in the mothers milk can interfere with the vaccination which can lead to it not working and the death of the puppy hence why most vets will give a vaccination every couple of weeks to a pup.


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## redbellybite (Nov 28, 2008)

well they have a new vacs now ,I just got my dogs done a few months ago ,the 2 year old was on the old vacs programme where he had a few leading up to 12 months ...but the pup she had 1 at 6 weeks and her next follow up injection was done @ 10-12 weeks and it lasts 3 years as does my 2 year olds ..the only thing I have to follow up every 12 months now is the nasal squirt.....


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## aoife (Nov 28, 2008)

i love the nasal squirt, it's the cutest thing watching your puppies go all funny


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## Helikaon (Nov 28, 2008)

well ofcourse they arent going to tell you it is 100% garanteed . and yeah that new vaccine that lasts for 3 years, i dont trust. after hey started using it in america there was a big increase in parvo cases. but im sure they will perfect it. we now have antibiotic injections that last 2 weeks so cant be to far behind.


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## falconboy (Nov 28, 2008)

redbellybite said:


> the only thing I have to follow up every 12 months now is the nasal squirt.....




I thought the nasal squirt one was for Kennel Cough?


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## daniel1234 (Nov 28, 2008)

Yep, just a quick flick over replies, and we worry about those getting reptiles. We made sure our dogs were immunised before walking them/taking them out as pups. We even immunise our rabbits (after a lesson learned, bloody mosi's).


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## kel (Nov 28, 2008)

as some one else said theres no point hiding your puppy away from the world you can bring parvo home on your shoes, it also can live in the soil for upto 5 years so the person who just lost the pup is wise to not rush out to get another one to soon, im not saying wait 5 years but i would give it a few months at least, im a registered dog breeder and myself and alot of other breeders will not let anyone visit with pups till after they are seven weeks old and had the first vac at six weeks, i actually vacc at 8 weeks not six due to the breed size and dont let people visit for a week, i only vac adult dogs every 2-3 years


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## Ash13 (Nov 28, 2008)

Hey guys- 
Thought i would add my bit to help clear any concerns
I work in the industry, deal with parvo and vaccinate dogs on a daily basis. 

As long as the animal recieves its first vaccination after six weeks of age and then follows with two boosters at monthly intervals there should be no interferance from maternal antibodies. Subsequent exposure to the antigen stimulates the immune system to produce more antibodies- Upon first exposure antibody levels increase- but then decrease. Upon subsequent exposures antibody level increase to higher levels and are maintained. That is why your animals "booster" vaccinations are SO important. Depending on the brand of vaccine used your animal should then be given a booster each year or every three years. 

Vaccination are NOT fool proof. It is possible for a vaccinated animal to contract a disease. This can occur for many reasons- ill health, immuno compromised, parasite burden, aged, young. Parvo is very contagious and will remain viable in the environment for up to three years. 

Falcon boy- you are right the intranasal is indeed for kennel cough the sub cut injection is the parvo vaccine (with a bit of hepatitis and distemper mixed in!)

Hope that helped some


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