The infection of dogs with canine p

The infection of dogs with canine parvovirus (CPV) has been demonstrated to result in highly contagious enteric disease producing a high rate of morbidity and even death [1]. The clinical signs of CPV infection vary considerably ranging from mild to severe haemorrhagic enteritis, fever, vomiting and often death in severe cases. Those dogs under one year of age have the highest risk of developing severe disease, although all naïve animals are highly susceptible to infection. Dogs older than one year which are considered naïve are still highly susceptible to CPV infection, but have a tendency to shed virus in faeces and develop a milder form of the disease and have lower incidence of mortality. Due to the risk of virus shedding and the resultant risk of contact infection, CPV is routinely considered as a core vaccination [2].