Five puppies adopted at Pet Expo diagnosed with contagious parvovirus; all alive
Five puppies adopted at the Northwest Pet Expo on Saturday were diagnosed this week with the contagious, sometimes deadly canine parvovirus. None have died.
The dogs were adopted at the event held at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center through SpokAnimal, an adoption agency which is now taking care of the puppies, said Dori Peck, executive director of SpokAnimal.
“We’re working really hard here and saving them all,” Peck said.
The puppies, heeler mixes, all came from the same litter, which a local man brought into the shelter, Peck said. Before the expo, none of the puppies showed signs of the disease, so the shelter did not test them.
“On Friday, (before the expo) they were eating and playing. There was absolutely no sign,” she said.
The first puppy was diagnosed Monday, Peck said, and the scare has led SpokAnimal to change some of its practices. The shelter will now only allow one staff member into the “puppy room,” and that employee will not be in contact with other animals in the shelter.
“And more deep cleaning,” she said.
The shelter can test for the virus in about 10 minutes with in-house equipment, but it doesn’t test animals unless they are showing signs or symptoms.
“If they’re not showing signs, the test won’t show anything,” she said.
The Northwest Pet Expo is hosted by KXLY Radio Group’s event department, which Peck said has been made aware of the diagnoses. Thousands of people and hundreds of pets came to the show Saturday, which is in its second year.
Suzie Dunn, events organizer with KXLY, said she had no comment Thursday.
“We’ve been working closely with KXLY and the Pet Expo, and we’ve heard from pretty much every shelter. We’ve not heard anything at all,” about the virus spreading to other dogs, she said.
Parvovirus is spread through dog-to-dog contact or contaminated feces. Signs include vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, weight loss and dehydration. Most deaths happen in two to three days of contact with the virus, according to the American Veterinary Medical Foundation. Parvovirus is preventable with a vaccine.
People cannot contract the virus from animals.
There is conflicting information on the survival rate of the virus: the American Veterinary Medical Foundation states 90 percent survive and PetMD.com states the survival rate is 70 percent, if treated in a hospital.