Canine parvovirus, or just “parvo”, is a contagious virus which affects dogs.
Two forms of CPV have been identified: diarrhoea syndrome and cardiac syndrome.
Diarrhoea syndrome, or enteritis, has an incubation period of five to fourteen days. Dogs with enteritis act like they are in extreme pain. Early symptoms are depression, loss of appetite, vomiting, high fever, and severe diarrhoea. Faeces can be either grayish or fluid and bloody. Rapid dehydration is a danger, and dogs may continue to vomit and have diarrhoea until they die, usually three days after onset of symptoms. Others may recover without complications and have no long-term problems. Puppies can die suddenly of shock as early as two days into the illness.
[
Image from: http://www.cvmbs.colostate.edu/clinsci/wing/trauma/parvo.gif ] The second form of CPV is cardiac syndrome, or myocarditis, which can affect puppies under three months old. There is no diarrhoea because the virus multiplies rapidly in muscle cells of the immature heart. Puppies may stop suckling and then collapse and die within minutes or days. No effective treatment is available for cardiac syndrome, and surviving puppies may have permanently damaged hearts.
The disease is most serious in puppies, for which an untreated parvovirus has about a 90% mortality rate if it is not treated, however with treatment, the survival rate is over 80 percent. CPV infection is now considered most threatening to puppies between the time of weaning and six months of age. Adult dogs can also contract the virus, although it's relatively uncommon. All breeds of dog can be infected, but Rottweilers and Doberman Pinschers are more susceptible and have less chance of recovering.
The virus spreads through faeces – both direct and indirect contact with faeces can infect your dog. Because the virus can survive for months or even a year in soil and the environment, it is very hard to prevent any contact with the virus as it is almost impossible to clean the entire area.
Puppy mills and animal shelters are the most likely place for your dog to contract Parvovirus, due to the fact that puppies cannot have the vaccine. It is not unheard of to get a new puppy or dog from an animal shelter and find that the dog has contracted parvovirus from being in close proximity to other dogs.
The easiest way to prevent CPV in adult dogs has been through annual vaccinations, although increasingly, veterinarians are recommending that vaccinations be administered every three years. Puppies need a series of booster shots, because of uncertainty about when maternal immunity wanes and the time the vaccine can provide puppies with their own immunity. This may be as early as six weeks of age or as late as fourteen weeks of age. If there is still a high level of maternal antibody present in the puppy, it will interfere with a vaccination. Veterinarians recommend that puppies get boosters every three weeks until they are sixteen weeks old, and they should be kept separate from unvaccinated dogs. Vaccinations given to puppies as well as adults also protect against other serious canine diseases like distemper, infectious hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, and coronavirus.
[Above info from: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1556&aid=467]
