By Dan Vierria - dvierria@sacbee.com
An increase in Parvo virus cases the past few weeks has prompted the Sacramento County Animal Shelter to postpone pet adoptions through next Tuesday.
Twelve cases of Parvo have been reported in the area the past five weeks, according to animal care director Pat Claerbout. By quarantining animals, the county hopes to curtail the spread of the highly-contagious and deadly virus.
Parvo, particularly dangerous to dogs, has a 10 to 14 day incubation period. While the virus usually attacks young, unvaccinated dogs, older dogs can also be at risk.
The Bradshaw Road shelter, as a precaution, also has postponed adoptions of cats, according to county spokeswoman Vanessa Martin.
For updates and more information visit www.saccountyshelter.net or call (916) 368-7387.
UPDATE:
Concerns over a spike in cases of parvo, a highly infectious canine disease, has prompted Sacramento County animal shelter officials to suspend dog adoptions until Tuesday.
The county shelter Thursday reported a dozen confirmed parvo cases and announced it is stepping up measures to stop the spread of the potentially deadly virus.
County veterinarian Margaret Hunt said the county is dealing with a "virulent" strain of parvovirus.
"This one is not only easy to cause disease in the host, but also extremely easy to pass from host to host," she said. "And it is extremely difficult to kill."
Parvo is a viral infection of dogs. It usually strikes unvaccinated puppies and sometimes young or adult dogs, depending on their health and history of vaccination. Dogs that contract parvo often have diarrhea (sometimes bloody), vomiting, lethargy and loss of appetite.
The virus is transmitted from dog to dog, mainly through contact with feces. It's a resistant virus that, under some conditions, can live in the environment for up to a year.
Once infected, puppies may not show symptoms for up to two weeks. During that time, parvovirus can be shed through the feces and infect other dogs, Hunt said.
As a precaution, the shelter is disinfecting all kennels and equipment and requiring staff to sanitize their shoes and hands. Visitors, except those redeeming their pets, are discouraged from visiting the shelter until further notice.
Animal shelter officials are taking preventive measures to stop the spread to other dogs in the shelter and in the community.
Hunt said all dogs are vaccinated when they arrive at the shelter, but only dogs with symptoms of parvo are tested for the illness because of costs. While adoptions are suspended, adoptable dogs are being quarantined and tested to make sure they are parvo-free.
The stakes are high: County shelter policy is to euthanize any dog that tests positive for parvo because there isn't space to isolate the animal sufficiently to prevent the spread of infection.
"Due to the ease with which the disease is spread, we don't treat dogs here at our shelter," explained Pat Claerbout, director of the Department of Animal Care and Regulation. "We're not set up for isolation."
Some dogs can survive parvo infection. Treatment consists mainly of intensive supportive care in a hospital.
Officials from the SPCA-run shelter and Sacramento city shelter said they have not seen a rise in parvo cases.
Hunt said the county shelter is working with researchers at UC Davis to figure out why they are seeing more cases of parvovirus.
"Could be that we got a new strain," Hunt said. "UC Davis is running tests. We want to know what happened."
Experts in shelter medicine at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine have met with county officials and collected a feces sample from a parvo-positive dog.
Kate Hurley, director of the school's shelter medicine program, said she doesn't believe a new, vaccine-resistant strain of parvo is the culprit.
"We would see a much more widespread outbreak if it was completely vaccine-resistant," she said. "This is constrained to animals with shaky vaccine background."
Hurley said it is critical to vaccinate puppies over 6 weeks old. In addition, she recommends continuing to vaccinate dogs every three to four weeks until they reach 4-5 months old to compensate for any maternal antibodies to parvo that might still be in their bodies and that can interfere with the vaccine.
Dogs should be vaccinated again at 1 year old and given a booster shot every three years, she said.
The UC Davis veterinarian also advised owners to adopt a "self-imposed quarantine," not exposing puppies to unvaccinated puppies for at least one week past the 4-month parvo vaccine.
That level of precaution suits dog owner Gina Spadafori. The Sacramento pet expert is taking care of a friend's 8-week-old retriever puppy for six months and plans to follow up on the series of booster shots for Otter.
"Unless she has immunity, she's at risk," Spadafori said. "She won't leave home unless carried, exposed to contagious dogs, except the vet's office and I won't put her on the floor.
"I'm in a double bind: I'm fostering a pet for someone else. I'm under more pressure to make sure she stays healthy."
