This is the newest type of parvovirus to afflict dogs. It was first detected in Italy in 2000 and has caused outbreaks all over the world with official reports from India in 2010, from China in 2014, from Taiwan in 2015, and from both Vietnam and Laos in 2016.
Unlike older types of parvovirus that mainly affect pups, parvovirus 2c is unique because it has been reported to affect young adults and completely vaccinated dogs up to 3 years of age.
Parvovirus 2c has the same clinical signs as that with the other types of parvovirus – vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and eventually death. However, reports are piling up that parvovirus 2c causes a more severe disease in pets.
The first parvovirus to adversely affect dogs was detected in 1978. It was identified as canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2). CPV-2a was later identified in 1979, and CPV-2b soon emerged in 1984. It was in the year 2000 that CPV-2c made its presence felt. To summarize, the different types of parvovirus according to year of identfication are as follows:
- 1978 – CPV-2
- 1979 – CPV-2a
- 1984 – CPV-2b
- 2000 – CPV-2c
The known types of parvovirus are CPV-2, CPV-2a, CPV-2b & CPV-2c. Regular parvovirus vaccines are derived from either CPV-2 or CPV-2a. Unfortunately, regular vaccines extend protection only up to CPV-2b but not much on CPV-2c. On the other hand, CPV-2c vaccines only extend protection up to CPV-2b but also not much on CPV-2 and CPV-2a. To solve this dilemma, researchers created a CPV-2b vaccine, such as Biocan® Novel, that can give protection either way covering CPV-2c and extending back to CPV-2 & CPV-2a.
No official report has yet been made but individual scientific studies have detected CPV-2c in the Philippines. Yet despite the absence of an official report, unusual parvoviral outbreaks involving young adults and completely vaccinated dogs have been reported all over the country. Per experience at AVCI [as of June 2019], we started to encounter these unusual cases back in 2012. Supposed to be a disease involving only pups, we are now commonly handling parvoviral cases of completely vaccinated dogs up to 4 years of age.
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