Canine Parvovirus is a viral disease of dogs that was first reported in early 1978. Parvovirus is capable of causing two different sets of clinical problems. The first to be recognized, and most common, is the “intestinal” form which is manifested by a severe bloody diarrhea, vomiting, loss of appetite, depression, fever, and sometimes death. The second syndrome, the “cardiac” form, occurs in very young pups and is manifested by an acute inflammation of the heart muscle.

Any age, breed or sex of dog could be affected by Parvovirus. However, infection with Parvovirus does not automatically mean illness. Several factors such as vaccination history, age, environment, stress, parasites and general health status of each individual dog infected could affect the severity of illness. The degree of illness could range from very mild to unapparent to very severe, often resulting in death. The disease is usually more severe in young dogs (less than 6 months of age) or old dogs.

Prevention is easy. Dogs should be vaccinated against the virus and kept under control (dogs allowed to roam freely are more likely to come in contact with the disease). In addition, since the virus is transmitted through the feces of infected dogs, dog droppings should be removed.

Puppies are harder to protect through vaccination than adult dogs because there is a "window of opportunity" for the disease between the time when they are protected by their mother's milk (assuming that the mother is immune) and the time that a vaccination will "take."  This is why puppy shots should begin at 6 weeks and continue every 3 weeks until the puppies are at least 15 - 16 weeks old.