Crossposted from RHU
Warning over deadly dog disease
9:50am Friday 13th August 2010
AN OUTBREAK of a deadly dog virus in Swindon has led vets to issue urgent advice to dog owners.
There have been five confirmed cases of parvovirus in dogs from the Penhill area in the last week.
Three of the dogs have had to be put to sleep by vets and one remains in a critical condition.
Vet Emma Coles, of Drove Veterinary Hospital, in Croft Road, said dog owners should ensure their animals have up-to-date vaccinations.
“The virus is usually spread by unvaccinated dogs sharing communal areas with infected dogs, as it can be passed on through their faeces,” she said.
It can also be passed on by foxes, birds, cats and even humans.
Emma said: “I would recommend contacting the vet to check when the last vaccination was done and when the next one is due and, if necessary, restarting the vaccination course.”
Parvovirus first emerged in the late 1970s and is a very infectious disease that can kill a dog within days.
There is no danger to humans.
Symptoms include the dog having diarrhoea and vomiting, often with blood, and being depressed and off its food.
Emma said they would normally expect to come across just one case of the virus a year in Swindon, so five in such a short space of time is unusual.
The practice has also had reports of other dogs in the Penhill area that have recently died without being taken to the vets.
She suspects the dogs have picked up the virus while being walked in the Sevenfield area but says it is likely the virus will spread to other parts of the town.
She said owners should not stop exercising their dogs but should make sure they are vaccinated.
Giovanna Martley, the practice manager of Thameswood Veterinary Clinic, in Purton Road, Moredon, said they had had to put a puppy to sleep this week after a suspected case of parvovirus.
“Anyone who sees a ‘parvo’ dog never forgets it,” she said.
“They are projectile vomiting, it’s horrific and very painful.”
She said if people’s dogs were vaccinated then they had nothing to worry about.
But she added: “If they are not vaccinated then get to the vets as soon as possible.
“This is going to spread like wildfire if we’re not careful.”
