Parvo Situation

First time posting here, just wanting some knowledge or guidance.

Two weeks ago my fiance's sister came across a stray terrier late at night, and brought it to the vets the next morning, they couldn't find an address registered to its chip so it was sent to the local pound for rehoming.

A week later it was still there so my fiance's father (who lives in a different property to them) decided he would take it, so they rang the pound to be told that the wee dog wasn't well so was at their vet.

My fiance's sister then rang again on Monday morning just past, to be told it was back and they would ring back to let her know when it could be lifted. The phone call never came so she rang again to be told it wasn't actually back but was still in the vet.

Come Tuesday afternoon then the pound did ring to say he was ok to go, and my fiance's sister and her dad went in her jeep to bring him to his house. However, the dog obviously wasn't well, and it came to a head last night (Thursday) and they took him to the vet. Today (Friday) he was diagnosed with parvo and passed away a few hours ago.

The further problem is, her dad also has a labrador at his house who had been in direct contact with the stray, but as far as he is aware his vaccinations are up to date so we can only hope he will be ok. There are also several dogs at my fiance's house, including two eight-month old pups, who wouldn't have been in direct contact with the stray but were in the jeep since the stray had been collected from the pound in it, and also woild have been all over her sister who had been in contact with the dog. Although, again all their vaccinations should be up-to-date.

But the other concern I have at this point is at my house, we just got an 8-week old mini schnauzer pup last Friday, so he would be around 9 weeks now. At no point did I have direct contact with the stray, but I was in the jeep on the Tuesday evening after it had been collected from the pound in it, and probably went home that night and unwittingly played with the pup. If her dogs do have any trace of it as well, then in all likelihood I was licked and pawed over by them as well. Our pup was only at the vet on Wednesday night to have his first vaccinations.

So my question is, is it likely I could have passed it on to the pup? And should we bring him to the vet asap to get tested? There has been no vomiting or lethargy from him so far but I know it can take around a week for symptoms to start to show anyway.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Parvo is awful. Vaccination is very protective but you can get very occasional cases in vaccinated dogs, but this is very, very rare. I personally have never seen parvo in a properly vaccinated dog.

My biggest concern is the puppy, but there is nothing specific you can do. It may still have antibodies from the mother providing some protection.

The infection may survive in the environment for over 6 months. The main route of infection is faecal-oral so anywhere the sick dog went to the toilet is out of bounds until fully protected by vaccination - hopefully puppy didn't poo in the Jeep!

I can't say you'll be 100% fine, but there is no merit in testing the puppy at this stage. Try not to worry.

Many thanks for your quick reply. Her sister didn't mention anything about it pooing in the jeep, so I'd say it probably didn't, my fiance is positive that I wouldn't have been able to infect the pup. Fingers crossed anyway. Though i do know it was sick in it when they were bringing it to the vet, none of the other dogs or myself were in it since then, but even though they have cleaned it with bleach, i can't see how they'll be able to take anyone in it for the forseeable future. It had probably soaked right into the upholstery before they could get to it, and you can't exactly sell it on in that condition in case the new owner else tries to put their dog in it. That's a tough one but right down the list of worries at the minute, a car is easier to replace than a loved one.

I've been quarantined from my fiance's house and her dogs for at least a week or so until we make sure nobody starts showing any symptoms, so it's just a case of wait and see and hope then.

Thanks again for your reply.

Just to clarify - you know people can't catch it?

Shampooing the upholstery in the car should be fine. It would vastly reduce any risk.

All you can do is take good precautions. Scrapping the car and banning relatives seems a little OTT to me. There are lots of parvo dogs dealt with by vet practices every year and they do not close to other patients, and most of the people caring for the parvo animals go home to their own dogs. They are getting exposed to far more virus than your relatives now.

Fresh clothes and washing of hands seems to be sufficient.

Salient point for people to keep their dogs boosters up to date.

Yes I am aware just incredibly paranoid!Thanks for putting my mind a bit better to rest anyway.

Just a quick update.

Without wanting to jinx anything, its now 10 days since the wee dog was brought home from the pound, 8 since he left to go to the vet, and 7 since he passed away, and there has been no vomiting, diarrhoea, blood or noticeable change in behaviour from anybody. So far so good.

Excellent.