St. Louis, MO (KMOX) - With news of a canine parvovirus outbreak at the St. Louis County animal shelter, you may be wondering how you protect the health of your own dog. KMOX's Total Information AM reached out to the College of Veterinary Medicine at University of Missouri. Dr. Leah Cohn says vaccination against parvo is key.
"But the problem is that dogs can't get the vaccine until they are over their maternal immunity," explains Dr. Cohn. "In other words, the mother has antibodies to help protect against parvovirus, but those wear off and they wear off at a time that isn't always predictable. It's going to be somewhere between about 7 weeks of age and 16 weeks of age, but we don't know exactly when it's going to happen. That's why puppies get a whole series of vaccinations that start around the age of 6 to 8 weeks. And then every 3 to 4 weeks, they get another one and another one and another one until they're past the 16 or 18 week age, because the vaccine is not going to work until after maternal immunity wears off."
She says parvo causes gastrointestinal disease but can cause other complications that make it especially deadly. It can be carried on clothes and shoes to other locations, and can spread rapidly in places where many dogs are together. "You walk through an area where you get part of a virus on your shoes, you could transfer the virus to another area. This is really important where dogs interact in a more dense environment." Animal shelters, boarding facilities, doggie daycares, and dog parks are some likely places.
Cohn says there are new treatments for canine parvovirus, but they must be administered after an early diagnosis or they won't be effective.
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