Parvo is transmitted through the feces and vomit of infected dogs and puppies. The virus can live in feces for about two weeks and can exist in the environment (on floors, walls, cages) for many months. Because it is so difficult to kill, the virus is easily transmitted by hands, clothing, or shoes of anyone who comes into contact with it.

The incubation period is usually 5-7 days after exposure (3-12 days is possible). Initial signs of parvo include loss of appetite, vomiting, dehydration, lethargy, fever, and depression. Some dogs infected with the virus show no symptoms and never become ill, while others show some symptoms and recover quickly. Some, however, become severely ill and die within 48-72 hours after first showing symptoms.

The disease is easy to prevent in adult dogs. Dogs should be vaccinated against the virus and kept under control (dogs allowed to roam freely are more likely to come in contact with the disease). In addition, since the virus is transmitted through the feces of infected dogs, dog droppings should be removed. (Fayetteville's leash law and "pooper scooper" law actually serve to control and prevent disease.)

Puppies are harder to protect through vaccination because there is a "window of opportunity" for the disease between the time when they are protected by their mother's milk (assuming that the mother is immune) and the time that a vaccination will "take." The best way to protect a puppy is to make sure that it never comes into contact with anything infected with the virus.

As one can imagine, it is particularly difficult to prevent parvo in the puppy pits. We keep puppies separate from adult dogs, isolate incoming puppies for as long as possible, disinfect the puppy pits frequently, and ask that no one enter the puppy room without a shelter employee present. The shelter employee can see to it that visitors use hand-wipes between animals (something we encourage visitors to do everywhere in the shelter) to reduce the chances of transmitting disease from one puppy to another.

Once a dog has parvo, it is difficult to treat. There are no anti-viral medicines, so the treatment consists of keeping the animal as strong as possible while the disease runs its course. Usually this means hospitalization, intravenous fluid replenishment, and medication to control vomiting, diarrhea, and secondary infections. Even with the best of care, many dogs die.

The only thing a shelter can do is try to prevent the disease by vaccinating incoming dogs, isolating them as long as possible (we are working on turning the old shelter into an isolation area), and maintaining high standards of cleanliness. Our puppy pits and adult kennels are constructed to keep animals physically separated and areas easy to clean and disinfect. Even so, we have no way of knowing what an animal has been exposed to before coming to the shelter, and some dogs may be carrying the disease without showing any symptoms. It is nothing short of a disaster when parvo is brought into the shelter, so we do our best to prevent it.

(Much of this information is from a fact sheet and article by Cynthia Stitely in Animal Sheltering, The Humane Society of the United States.)