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What is Parvo ?
Parvo is the viral disease in dogs
and cattles. Parvovirus is not found to be in relation with any
human disease. Parvovirus is a group of virus containing DNA in
an icosahedral protein shell and is responsible for causing
disease in dogs, cattles, foxes and wolves. Parvovirus belongs
to parvoviridae family and it is the smallest virus that exists
in nature. In general, a parvoviridae family virus affects only
mammals. Parvovirus is very common in small puppies than in the
adult dogs. Parvovirus will grow fastly dividing cells. The
virus will be present in the intestinal lining and will spread
throughout the body by dividing cells. In very small puppies,
this virus may affect heart muscles and may lead to death. Parvo
is considered to be a very contagious disease that will have
diarrhea with blood as the common symptom. The actions of the
pathogen Parvovirus is suppressed by proper vaccination. The
species parvovirus is first noticed in 1967 and the name of
canine parvoviruses are CPV-1, CPV-2, CPV-2a, CPV-2b. Canine
Parvovirus is the most common disease in United States.
Vaccination
It is very difficult to vaccinate puppies suffering with parvo,
since the puppies require antibody protection from the mother.
When a puppy is born, the maternal antibody level will reduce by
half in every 10 days. Veterinary Doctors recommend Parvovirus
vaccination for puppies when it reaches 6 weeks of age and
should continue till 16 to 20 weeks of age.
Signs and Symptoms of parvo
The signs that occur as the symptoms of parvo are grouped under
three categories:
Asymptotic
There will not be any sign as such. This is common in dogs which
are of 1 year age and vaccinated dogs.
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Cardiac
The signs are severe inflammation, necrosis, scarring in the
heart muscle.
Intestinal Severe damages
will be caused in digestive tracts which may lead to bacterial
infection.
The most common symptoms are
• Vomiting.
• Bad-smelling diarrhea with blood.
• Lethargy.
• Depression.
• High fever.
• Loss of appetite.
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Some of the secondary symptoms are
occurrence of severe gastrointestinal diseases, dehydration,
sudden death may also occur. There are chances for the
occurrence of an intestinal disease called as enteritis (severe
vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, feces with blood, fever,
reduction in White blood cells level). The condition of dog may
become very worst when it is also infected with gram-negative
bacteria and there will be comparatively slow recovery.
Transmission of Parvovirus
Parvovirus is generally carried by dogs and it is a serious
contagious disease. Parvo can be infected through hands, shoes,
and car tyres etc. Parvovirus can survive for months together
even if it comes out of the animal’s body. The areas affected
with Parvovirus should be washed with chlorine bleach diluted
with water (1:32 dilution – half cup of bleach in 1 gallon of
water). Chlorine bleach is the most efficient and inexpensive
method for removing Parvovirus. Researches shows that Parvovirus
only affects dogs and cattles, they will not affect other
animals and humans. Parvovirus spreads also due to clothing,
foods, through some insects, rodents. It is better to
hospitalize the puppies infected with Parvovirus.
Diagnosis of Parvovirus
Some of the diagnostic methods used are Signalment and Fecal
parvo (ELISA) test. Signalment test is concerned with
identifying status of the vaccination and breed. The other
diagnostic method is radiograph. Radiographs are used to analyze
vomiting and diarrhea. Titers test is a new and simple test
method to analyze fecal matter and is done with enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay antigen (ELISA) test. The best way to treat
parvo is to diagnose all the suspected symptoms.
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Parvovirus Treatments
Parvovirus treatments are done with antibiotics and other
sub-coetaneous fluids. There are no permanent methods to cure
parvo. Doctor’s can only provide medicines to keep the puppies
and dogs from dehydration and to prevent them from loss of
proteins. Dogs who have survived parvo once can get re-infected
with the same disease. There are some restrictions in medicines
that the affected dogs should not be given sulfa drugs as it
causes dehydration in them. Homeopathic and naturopathic
treatments are also recommended as alternative treatment for
parvo. One of the natural medication is Parvaid produced by
Amber Technology, USA. Parvaid is an herbal food supplement to
overcome parvoviral infection in dogs. It has been estimated
that about 80% of the infected puppies will die if proper
treatment is not given. Breeds like Rottweilers, Doberman, other
black and tan breeds are very sensitive to Parvovirus. They get
infected easily and will show very less signs of recovery than
other common breeds. It has been showed in research that a puppy
recovering from parvo will remain immune to the disease for
minimum 20 months. The immunity power mainly comes from mother’s
maternal antibody. Maternal antibodies are the kind of
antibodies present in mother’s milk during the first 24 hours
after the birth of puppies.
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There are
several treatment methods for Parvoviral infections. The treatment
may include any one of the following
• Taking oral electrolytic fluids
• Subcutaneous or Intravenous fluids
• Antibiotics
• Anti-vomiting and nausea medications
• Blood or plasma transfusions
Oral electrolyte fluids: Oral
electrolytic fluids may be taken when the disease case is mild and
when vomiting is not there.
Subcutaneous and Intravenous Fluids
Intravenous Fluids and fluids like potassium, dextrose sugar are
generally used in the treatment. Intravenous fluids are added to
reduce vomiting and diarrhea. Potassium is added to maintain
electrolyte balance. Dextrose is added to maintain the blood sugar
level as parvovirus may reduce the blood sugar level.
Antibiotics Several antibiotics
are used to kill Parvovirus. The antibiotics available in the market
are Cefazolin, Baytril, Ampicillin, Gentamycin, Amikacin,
Trimethoprin-sulfa, and Chloramphenicol. These antibiotics will not
be given orally since the Gastro intestinal tract will be damaged.
Anti-vomiting and nausea medications
There are possibilities for the puppy to develop nausea and
ulceration of esophagus. The medications used for controlling nausea
are metoclopramide and chlorpromazine. The ulceration of esophagus
is prevented by some medications like Tagamet, Zantec and Pepcid).
Tagamet, Zantec and Pepcid are referred as Injectable antacids.
Blood or plasma transfusions
these transfusions will be dome to replace loss of protein by
providing antibodies. It helps to come out of anemic conditions.
Use of anti-diarrheal medications that includes several types of
adsorbents, anti-spasmotics are recommended to stop diarrhea.
Anti-serums, steroids and other drugs for stimulating immune power
are also suggested in the treatment.
In general, the Fecal floatation, WBC counts, specific gravity of
urine, abdominal palpation and total blood protein should be tested
before giving treatment. The other medications used are Cefoxitin
(an antibiotic), Ondansetron (Trade name: Zofran), Oseltamivir (Tamiflu),
Septi-Serum, Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Neupogen.
Prevention methods to avoid the spread
of Parvo
The best preventive method is to vaccinate puppies and dogs when
they reach 6 to 8 weeks of age. Puppies should not be allowed to be
in close contact with other dogs till it gets vaccinated. The
infected dog may release parvovirus in their feces, this is very
dangerous and immediately affects other dogs.
• We should keep the infected dog separately atleast for a month
till it gets recovered.
• We should periodically clean all the dogs feces in our house.
• We can use chlorine bleach and hot water to clean food bowl, water
bowl, and bedding of the infected dog. We can also use this bleach
solution to clean kennels, crates etc.
• We should take care in giving the diet containing the prescribed
medicines until the recovery.
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