Parvovirus gives dog owners a wake-up call

Dubai Regular cases of Parvovirus in dogs have raised concern among the veterinary and dog-owner community in Dubai.

The virus causes severe illness in dogs, with a 80-90 per cent mortality rate for puppies under 12 weeks of age. The virulent virus in incurable (only the symptoms are treated) and can spread rapidly among the animals through infected faeces and even from the bottom of cages. K9 friends, a canine charitable organisation, told Gulf News that two litters of puppies received for rehoming were contaminated and died.

A purpose-built isolation block at K9 Friends' premises served to stop the spread of the disease to any of the other animals. Canine Parvovirus is not transmittable to humans.

Jackie Ratcliffe, Chairperson, K9 Friends, said: "It's rife at the moment. Usually we see one outbreak a year but then it's gone. We've had more Parvo this year then ever before. "The trouble with Parvo is that it comes on overnight — as soon as they [the dogs] test positive, we have to put them down, because it's such a horrible virus," she said.

Ratcliffe said she bought a dog from a pet shop in Dubai, which died a week later from the virus. According to Dr Lukasz Juszkiewicz, Veterinarian, Modern Veterinary Clinic, no cases would be seen at all if all the puppies are vaccinated on time.

"We get a Parvo case every second week; it's an ongoing problem," he said.

"I think it's because people are greedy and they just want to buy and sell the animals… they don't do the vaccinations, or they do the vaccinations too early."

Prevention first

Parvo vaccinations can be obtained at a minimal cost compared to the cost of treatment, which can be between Dh3,000 and Dh4,000. Dr Monique Strange, Veterinarian, Al Safa Veterinarian Clinic, said they've seen an increased number of cases (November-April) than previous years.

"The main suspects are imported dogs (Thailand, Czech Republic) which present with the clinical signs a few days after being imported, or stray animals with an unknown vaccination history," she said.

Dr Juszkiewicz said that some of the cases have come from dogs bought at Sharjah Birds and Animal Market. Dr Geoffrey Davey Brown, of the same clinic, said that cases have been found in imports from Eastern Europe — the clinic has also had cases in dogs bought from pet shops in Dubai.

Dr Brown continued that some dogs have their ages falsified on documents.

During a visit to the Sharjah market, Gulf News found that none of the puppies on sale had been vaccinated or microchipped. A shop assistant said two and three-month-old puppies on sale had been shipped in from Russia, and had not been vaccinated — he said that this could be done after purchase.

At a second shop, two-month-old unvaccinated puppies were on sale, too.

Dr Hashim Fahmy, Veterinary expert, Dubai Municipality, said that dogs have to be four months old prior to being imported, in addition to being vaccinated.

"These dogs [Russian] were probably smuggled or brought in illegally. We always tell the public to buy from a reputable shop," he said. Two pet shops in Dubai said that all their puppies had already been vaccinated and microchipped.

If dogs are found without vaccinations, they can be confiscated and the establishment fined up to Dh10,000, depending on repeat offences, according to Dr Fahmy. "We have advice for the public and we have certain conditions and advice for people who want to buy dogs and cats," Dr Fahmy said. Dogs should have a health certificate, should be healthy, have a Municipality tag number, be microchipped and have a vaccination certificate before being sold, he said.

Dr Brown said that people buying a dog should ask for a written guarantee: "They should request in writing a 10-day cover from purchase as this is the incubation time for Parvo." This means that if a dog has the virus, symptoms may only show after 10 days. Parvo vaccinations should be done when the puppy is between six and eight weeks old, again at 12 weeks and at 16 weeks to ensure efficacy.

Contagious: What is parvovirus?

Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that attacks the gastrointestinal tract of puppies, dogs and wild canids (such as foxes, wolves, coyotes).

It was first identified in 1978 and is seen worldwide. It also can damage the heart muscle in very young and unborn puppies. It is highly contagious and is spread by direct dog-to-dog contact and contact with contaminated faeces (stool), environments or people. All dogs are at risk, but puppies less than four months old and dogs that have not been vaccinated are at an increased risk.

— American Veterinary Medical Association

Have you ever heard of parvovirus? Do you know what to do if your dog contracts it? What should be done to spread awareness about this issue?