Comments on: The ‘new strain of parvo’ hysteria and why it should stop

By: john burns

john burns — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:18:40 +0000

Have anyone ever heard of vaccines causing parvo? i rescue puppies and it seem like everyoe once in a while i will get 1 or 2 puppies out of a litter that dies from parvo and the others are fine. clearly its not in my enviroment because i have bought brand new crates and i hold them all for two weeks before placing them. The vaccines i use are called Nobivac

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:23:58 +0000

Francine, I’m very sorry for your loss, but the old strain kills puppies, too, and it’s COMPLETELY COMMON for “half-vaccinated” puppies to die of parvo, and suffer severe complications.

There remains zero evidence that this “new strain” is worse than the “old strain,” nor that it’s any harder to protect against with vaccination.

Again, I’m so sorry for your loss of your puppy.

By: Francine

Francine — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:04:11 +0000

My dog just died from this new strand.. and yeah is worse the new old one…. and people should be a little concerned by it.. since its the winter time in el paso. texas. and they are getting it. when CPV is a spring summer virus. our vet doesnt understand what is going on… and it takes longer to kill your dog. and our dog had half of his shots, he was only a puppy. be careful

By: Jacq

Jacq — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:01:05 +0000

Parvo 2c is real. Kapil is correct in his findings- read the article people. And not all CPV vacs fully protect against it.
cliff notes version on history of CPV:
when symptoms first ‘noticed’, not diagnosed, in dogs in early 1980’s, dvms had no clue what it was. DVMs later state virus resembled panluekopenia/ a cat virus. DVMs began vaccinating dogs with the panleuk cat vaccine. It worked.
Idexx tasts as of 2009 were not detecting parvo (CPV)2c. Parvo 2 was orignal name. It mutated over time to parvo 2a, 2b and now 2c. Look at what CPV strains are in vaccines and which cross protect. Pfizer and Merial are CPV2/2a strains and do NOT cross protect well against 2C, 50-60% efficacy. Intervet Schering Plough is CPV 2b strain and cross protects extremely well agianst 2c, studies show 100% efficacy. FT. Dodge, now B.I., is a differ 2b strain and cross protects against 2c, 90% effective. Upon necrospy of adult dogs, CPV 2c is being detected where Idexx snap tests, ELISA and PCR missed.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:06:56 +0000

Tim, I’m so sorry for your loss.

There really is no new strain of parvo that isn’t covered by the current vaccines, but that doesn’t mean his vaccines were effective, nor does it mean he actually had parvo at all.

So without a lot more information, it’s impossible to say what happened to your little guy, or whether or not he even had parvo. Did you have a post-mortem exam done? Was the puppy leukopenic? How old was he when he had his last vaccination?

None of these questions can bring him back, but they might help protect a future puppy or dog.

By: Tim Holt

Tim Holt — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:46:15 +0000

We had a 9 month old puppy that was vaccinated by the vet on the vets schedule…he died last night from Parvo…said a new strain…I took him to the vet when he first started acting lethargic..was at the clinic on fluids and treatment and died overnight after the third day…. if this isn’t real than what the heck happened? I took him no where except a walk down our street nightly…I can’t figure it out

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:19:44 +0000

I have been doing rescue work for 6 years. We have had the same number, on average, of parvo cases in puppies over this time period. We have had an increase of adult parvo cases over the last year. We have personally had 5 cases of adult onset parvo (12 months old or older). In all but one case we had documented vaccines either given 3 times or 4 times, 3 dogs were fully vaccinated by a veterinarian and not by shelter personnel. In addition to these cases, we have cases in affiliated rescues totaling another 6 in the same time period. It really does seem like there is something going on out there. While my numbers may not seem statistically significant, they are to us - the worker bees in the trenches.

By: Jeanette Harper

Jeanette Harper — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:36:26 +0000

Three months of pure hell. I had a litter of seven boxer puppies(healthy puppies). Took them into vets to have their tails and dewclaws done. Two weeks later one died.(Did not suspect parvo at this time) At six weeks of age I took the others in for their first shots. Nine days later, first puppy comes down with parvo. And it continued until all six came down with parvo. All six had to be hospitalized. Long story short, Four came home, two had to be put down. One with a broke back, which vet could not explain(she came home,but progressively lost control of her back legs)within two weeks I had to take her back to vet to be put down.How this litter got parvo, vets can’t explain,as they were born and raised in my home, and never left until I had their tails docked and dewclaws removed. Never on the ground. Now Vets trying to tell me it’s a new strain of parvo going around. But thanks to your article I now know better. Thank you. Still suffering, as I can’t sell fourteen week old puppies that have had parvo. Not a puppy mill! This was my first litter,and I waited until my female was four to breed her. You know, I just want someone to take responsibility for this.And I know they probably never will. I’m just tired of professionals blowing smoke up my ___,trying to cover theirs.

By: Michelle Gaden

Michelle Gaden — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 08:12:00 +0000

My 8-month old (unvaccinated…STUPID,STUPID, STUPID) female mixed-breed went to the vet April 13 for vomiting, lack of appetite and lethargy. Three negative parvo fecal tests left vets mystified. She was admitted to the hospital. Two days later my other 8-month old didn’t eat breakfast. I immediately took him to the vet; he had no fever and wasn’t acting very sick so they sent me home with amoxi and doxy. He died less than 48 hours later. Three days ago, my four 8-week old puppies started exhibiting symptoms of this as-yet undiagnosed disease. (They had their first puppy shots two weeks ago) Lost one of them overnight, took the other three in the next morning where they tested positive for parvo, so I left them there for treatment. Lost one of them last night and expect to lose the remaining two by the time I get to the vet clinic tomorrow. The first dog to get sick, Sissy, recovered after 12 days of hospitalization and is now staying at a friends house until her vaccinations kick in. There is still not a definitive diagnosis for her illness. For me, the biggest problem with this “new” strain is that it does not show up on the ELISA. I would have sought treatment for all my dogs immediately had I known what I was dealing with.

By: Christie Keith

Christie Keith — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 19:22:54 +0000

Pat, I understand you experienced illness in your dogs, and I’m sorry for what you and they went through, but you’re mixing up a lot of different concepts here.

Did you have a test done — electron microscopy, PCR — to determine that the symptoms were caused by CPV-2c? Why do you think they were?

Since research has shown that the current vaccines DO protect against CPV-2c, and you had this problem in multiple dogs, the chances that it was, indeed, caused by this strain are so remote as to be nearly impossible. Sure, you could have had a house full of non-responders, but in that case, they’d be just as susceptible to parvo of the other strains, too. And since you’re fostering, not breeding, I’d have to bump the odds of them all being non-responders all the way to zero.

Did lab tests show these dogs were leukoenpic? What diagnostics showed this was parvo at all, and not some other form of intestinal disease?

Bad information and over-reacting doesn’t protect dogs; only good information does that. That’s why I believe we need to be careful that what we say is accurate.