Canine Parvovirus Infection; A Deadly Disease That Makes Your Pretty Dog Looks Shitty

Just three days ago, a dog with a very bad case of parvoviral infection was brought to the state veterinary clinic (where I am undergoing internship presently), and at a glance i could tell that the dog wasnt going to make it because it wasnt looking too good with a very poor prognosis.

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BRIEF INTRODUCTION OF THE DISEASE

Canine parvovirus infection is a deadly viral disease that affects young dogs within the age range of 6 weeks to 6 months. Most animals that comes up with this disease always find it difficult to survive. This virus (Canine parvovirus CPV, a single-stranded, negative-sense DNA, non enveloped virus) when contacted multiplies rapidly within dividing cells of your dog, which is a distinct characteristic of most virus, making it a very difficult disease to manage.

FORMS OF THE DISEASE

This disease occurs in two different forms which are;

• Intestinal form (more common form)

• Cardiac form (less common) which attacks the heart muscles of puppies, leading to death.

This post will be focusing more on the most common form of the disease (Intestinal form).

HOW DO I KNOW MY DOG HAS BEEN INFECTED?

The following signs needs to be looked out for whenever a case of parvoviral enteritis is been suspected.

• Severe, bloody diarrhea with a foul smelling characteristic (This is very pathognomonic for this disease), which means that if your dog comes up diarrhoeic with a very foul smelling stool with bloody ting, then most likely, its been challenged with this disease.

• Anorexia (Loss of appetite)

• Persistent Vomiting which eventually leads to dehydration

• Fever

• Severe weight loss

• Death which often occurs at about 48 to 72 hours after the onset of the clinical signs.

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WHAT ARE THE MEANS OF TRANSMISSION OF THIS DISEASE?

Canine parvovirus can be transmitted by persons, objects and animals that comes in contact with infected animals faeces or vomits. The most disgusting part of this disease is that its virus is highly resistant and can persist in the environment for months on inanimate objects such as foot wears, plastics, utensils, and other tools, moreover, there are evidences that the virus can live in the soil for up to a year which makes it very common for unvaccinated dogs to contact the virus.

DIAGNOSIS?

CPV can be diagnosed via physical examination, urinary analysis, biochemical tests, abdominal radio-graphs and ultrasounds (showing intestinal obstruction and enlarged lymph nodes). A complete blood count can also be performed which shows low level count of white blood cells.

HOW DO I PREVENT MY DOGS FROM GETTING THIS DEADLY DISEASE?

The most important prevention against this disease is to make sure your dogs are up to date with their vaccination schedule. DHLPP vaccine (Distemper, Hepatitis B, Leptospirosis, Parvovirus, and Parainfluenza) is the most common in this part of the world which vaccinates your dog against 5 different diseases including parvovirus.
This vaccination is always done at 6-8 weeks of age (first shot) while the remaining 2 shots taken at interval of 3-4 weeks making a sum total of 3 shots.

Another preventive measure to be taken is to make sure pet owners with puppies that are yet to collect complete shot of the vaccine takes extra measures to make sure puppies don't come in contact with other dogs or objects with potentials of harbouring the virus.

Previous history of the disease should be followed by proper disinfection of the environment including every objects in the vicinity including feeding trough, drinkers kernels and other tools.

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TREATMENT?

Presently, there are no drugs to cure this viral infection, but since the disease is very contagious, the its important to quarantine the infected dog, to prevent infection of other dogs.
Supportive treatments can be given to the infected dog(which can be too pretty expensive) such antibiotics, anti-emetics, and anti motility drugs t o control secondary bacterial infections, vomiting, and diarrhoea respectively.
NOTE: Treatment is most times not successful.

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SO if you notice your dog is having reduced appetite, bloody diarrhoea and persistent vomiting then, CONTACT A VET IMMEDIATELY.

I HOPE YOU FIND THIS HELPFUL.

REFERENCES

1. Petmd | Parvo in Dogs
2. Avma | Canine parvovirus
3. Pets.webmd | Parvovirus in Dogs

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