History of Canine Parvovirus

History of Parvo

(CPV2) (more common form)

History of Canine Parvovirus

Canine Parvovirus is one of the most contagious and swift killing disease of dogs. Discovered in the late 1970s, but was not recognized until sometime in 1978 and spread worldwide sometime within a year or two. Dog parvo is very similar to feline panleukopennia (also a parvovius). They are 98% identical, differing only in two amino acids in the viral capsid protein VP2.The early belief was that the feline panleukopenia mutated into CPV2. It is possible that CPV2 is a mutant of an unidentified parvovirus (similar to feline parvovirus (FPV)) of some wild carnivore. A strain of CPV2b (strain FP84) has been shown to cause disease in a small percentage of domestic cats, although vaccination for FPV seems to be protective. CPV2, however, does not cause disease in cats and does so only mildly in mink and raccoons, and is a virus almost exclusively affecting canines.The origin of the canine parvovirus has not been established (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_parvovi