RSPCA urging dog owners to monitor pets after recent parvovirus outbreaks

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The RSPCA is urging dog owners to monitor their pets after recent outbreaks of canine parvovirus. Cases have been confirmed in South Australia and in New South Wales. RSPCA vet Fauve Buckley says the virus is highly contagious.

Transcript

00:00Parvovirus is a, or the canine strain is a particularly nasty virus that we see in dogs.

00:08It's most prevalent in unvaccinated dog populations, specifically our young or juvenile puppies

00:15because they just don't have an immune system there.

00:18It is a nasty virus.

00:20Often once they contract it, it causes some really, really severe gastrointestinal disease.

00:25We often see acute lethargy.

00:28They get really depressed, they're inappetent, they often develop vomiting and diarrhoea

00:34really, really quickly, and without prompt veterinary treatment, they actually can die

00:38from this.

00:39Oh dear.

00:40And how's it spread?

00:43It's spread via what we call the faecal-oral route.

00:47So often dogs that are shedding the virus, and these dogs may be aclinical, so you may

00:51not even know that they're shedding as yet because you haven't seen your dog unwell.

00:56So they'll pass those faeces out, and those faeces, if they get mixed into the soil or

01:02the dirt, which is often the case when your dog has diarrhoea, it essentially can live

01:07in that soil.

01:08So if there's moisture, there's a little bit of heat, and then another dog comes along,

01:13they can pick up that virus, they can ingest it, and then they can start to show symptoms

01:17within about 10 to 14 days.

01:20Gosh.

01:21How effective is a vaccination?

01:23Vaccinations are really, really effective, and they're the main way that we can prevent

01:28disease.

01:29No vaccination is 100% though, so if any dog is showing symptoms, even if it is vaccinated,

01:35I would still really strongly recommend that you go and see your veterinarian.

01:39But certainly in those younger dogs, younger puppies who may still be undergoing their

01:43vaccination course, it's really, really important that our owners take a lot of care with where

01:48they take those dogs.

01:49I certainly would recommend avoiding places like the dog park, places that are really

01:54highly populated like woody ovals and those sorts of things.

02:00So when a puppy, a dog comes into you and you suspect a parvovirus, what's the treatment?

02:06What's the course?

02:07Yeah.

02:08So generally if they suspect it, there is some diagnostic testing that we can do to

02:12show us whether or not they do have parvovirus.

02:16Generally it's supportive care, so we rehydrate them with IV fluids.

02:21We aggressively treat them with anti-nausea medication.

02:27We certainly try and entice them with special diets and those sorts of things.

02:32The hard thing with parvovirus is the reason why it is such a nasty virus.

02:36When these dogs get infected, specifically our puppies, the virus sheds in the gastrointestinal

02:42tract, but it also sheds in the bone marrow.

02:45And that's where we get our white blood cell production, which is really important for

02:50preventing disease.

02:52So essentially it's quite a smart virus because it's causing disease, but it's also knocking

02:56out that animal's ability to mount a response.

02:59So often we need supportive care with antibiotics.

03:03Treatment can often take 10 to 14 days to get that puppy back up to, or that dog back

03:09up to normal health.

03:11Gosh, and as I mentioned at the beginning, it's being called an outbreak down there in

03:16South Australia.

03:17There's cases too in New South Wales.

03:18I mean, how prevalent?

03:20What sort of numbers are we talking?

03:22Yeah, look, it's not uncommon this time of year.

03:25Certainly as we move into the spring and summer months where it's a lot warmer, there's still

03:30a lot of moisture around.

03:31But people are also out and about.

03:33We're just before Christmas.

03:34People are starting to get puppies for Christmas time.

03:37They're walking their dogs because they're enjoying that much warmer weather.

03:40So it is something that we do see at this time of year.

03:44Down in South Australia, we have had some issues in our northern and western suburbs.

03:49It certainly is something that we do predict that it may pop up in other areas around,

03:56but we're not surprised to see it.

03:57As I said, often in areas where we've got low vaccination rates, we do see it raising

04:04its head each year.

04:05But it's something that we're certainly really, really keen to try and educate those dog and

04:09puppy owners so that we can get our vaccination rates up and hopefully make sure that people

04:14are aware of the risks so that they can discuss a plan of how to keep their animals safe with

04:19their local vet.

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