RSPCA Issues Warning After Deadly Dog Virus Cases Confirmed

The RSPCA has issued a warning after the serious illness Canine Parvovirus (CPV) has been detected in three separate cases in the Whyalla area last week.

The virus is often deadly to dogs, and spreads incredibly easily - for example, by your dog coming into contact with faeces of an infected dog, or even walking along the same track.

It can be prevented by vaccinating your dog, which commonly occurs while still a puppy - normally in the first 20 weeks - in order to protect from harmful exposure.

The three cases in Whyalla were detected when an RSPCA inspector was on a call out regarding animal cruelty reports.

The warm weather and the rain are understood to also be contributing to conditions which cause CPV to spread through activating dormant bacteria in the soil.

"If your dog is not vaccinated then you should keep him on your property," Inspector Sliedrecht said.

"This virus is so contagious that we have cases where dogs have caught it after their owners have moved into a house where a dog with the condition lived previously, or they have caught it from being walked along the same route taken by an infected dog.

"There is no other way to protect your dog, prior to vaccination, than by containing him to your property."

Symptoms include bloody diarrhoea, vomiting, weight loss, lethargy and fever - and the virus has been likened to the way the Ebola virus affects humans.

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