Is there a new strain of parvo?

I'm going crazy right now, with the hysteria on the blogs and lists about this "new strain of parvo," based on a January press release from Oklahoma State University.

The amount of bad information that's getting shot all over the Internets is scary, kids. So of course I blogged about this over on Pet Connection:

In all honesty, I’m not surprised the loaded language in the OSU press release scared people, with all the stuff about 600 puppies dying in one night and mentions of “vaccine failure” and dead adult dogs. And yet… if you really look at the various studies, what you see are the usual kinds of vaccine failure from maternal antibody interference. You see dogs who are not vaccinated at all. You see dogs who got sick so soon after being vaccinated that they were clearly incubating the disease already.

The researchers themselves say this — say there’s no evidence this strain has evolved out of the coverage from existing vaccines. The very fact that this strain is so widespread, and is being found all over the country, tells us this is just another strain of CPV that’s out there, of interest to virologists, yes, but its practical importance? Other than the fact that one of the common lab tests for parvo can miss it, not much.

So enough, already. Sure, one day we might have a strain of parvo that mutates beyond coverage by existing immunity. I’m glad that researchers are watching out for that. I certainly want labs to know when strains evolve beyond the ability of some of their tests to detect.

But all we’re doing with this hysterical “sky is falling” reaction, our insistence there’s a new strain of a deadly disease and our dogs aren’t protected against it, is spreading false information and scaring the crap out of people.

Check it out here. Please.

Comments

[Dr. Patty Khuly]

What drives me craziest about the hysteria is the notion that this strain affects adult dogs along with puppies. Newsflash: I've treated as many adults as pups for parvo in my twelve years in practice. Every dog is susceptible to parvo if they're not vaccinated.

The other contention I can't abide is the half-a$$ed mental leap some make by assuming a greater frequency of vaccination is required to stem the tide of this "new" parvo. Do we have to go back to Immunology 101 to explain that one to the masses?