Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a highly contagious disease of dogs caused by canine parvovirus type 2. The disease has two clinical phenotypes: hemorrhagic enteritis and myocarditis. Hemorrhagic enteritis is characterized by severe vomiting, hemorrhagic enteritis, and marked leukopenia; myocarditis is characterized by sudden death. The virus causes mortality rates as high as 10% in adult dogs and even higher in puppies, at 91%. This article mainly introduces the etiology of canine parvovirus to help pet owners deepen their understanding of canine parvovirus.
Etiology
Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) belongs to the family Parvoviridae, genus Parvovirus, and is a single-stranded virus without an envelope. The virion is about 25 nm in diameter, has a regular icosahedral symmetry, and is assembled from 60 structural proteins. The virus is highly resistant to the outside world, but UV light can inactivate it. Canine parvovirus(CPV) is resistant to ether, chloroform, alcohols, and sensitive to oxidants, such as formalin, sodium hypochlorite, and ammonia. It has poor heat resistance and can be inactivated in 15 minutes at 80℃. And canine parvovirus(CPV) is infectious for at least 2 months at room temperature; outdoors, if protected from sunlight and dry, it can persist for months or even years.
Canine parvovirus(CPV) can infect all canids, such as wolves, South American dogs, etc. CPV-2 has gradually mutated into CPV-2a, CPV-2b, and CPV-2c. Among them, CPV-2 is highly pathogenic to dogs but not to cats. However, the mutated canine parvovirus is highly pathogenic to both dogs and cats. In other words, canine parvovirus(CPV) can be transmitted to cats.
Under normal circumstances, after a dog is infected by a virus, it will first proliferate in the oropharynx and local lymphoid tissues, and the lymphocytes will be reduced due to the invasion of the virus. Canine parvovirus(CPV) then infects small intestinal crypt cells and destroys intestinal epithelial cells, which results in epithelial necrosis, villous atrophy, impaired absorptive capacity, and impaired intestinal barrier function.