VIOLIN: Vaccine Investigation and Online Information Network

I. General Information

1. NCBI Taxonomy ID:

2. Disease:

Canine parvovirus infection

3. Introduction

Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV2, colloquioally parvo) is a contagious virus mainly affecting dogs. The disease is highly infectious and is spread from dog to dog by direct or indirect contact with their feces. It can be especially severe in puppies that are not protected by maternal antibodies or vaccination. It has two distinct presentations, a cardiac and intestinal form. The common signs of the intestinal form are severe vomiting and dysentery. The cardiac form causes respiratory or cardiovascular failure in young puppies. Treatment often involves veterinary hospitalization. Vaccines can prevent this infection, but mortality can reach 91% in untreated cases.

CPV2 is a non-enveloped single-stranded DNA virus. It has an icosahedral symmetry. The genome is about 5000 nucleotides long. CPV2 continues to evolve, and the success of new strains seems to depend on extending the range of hosts affected and improved binding to its receptor, the canine transferrin receptor. CPV2 has a high rate of evolution, possibly due to a rate of nucleotide substitution that is more like RNA viruses such as Influenzavirus A. In contrast, FPV seems to evolve only through random genetic drift (Wiki: Canine parvovirus).

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