Over the past month, the St. Louis County Animal and Control Adoption Center experienced its worst canine outbreak of parvovirus ever, according to St. Louis County Executive Sam Page.
County officials said during a press conference Sunday that they quickly purchased additional crates to create quarantine shelters, deep cleaned the facility, coordinated transfers and performed daily assessments on all dogs in the shelter to keep the deadly virus from spreading.
On April 19, the shelter identified one dog that tested positive for parvovirus. The shelter paused operations to protect the health of more than 200 dogs in its care. Veterinarians euthanized 19 dogs that tested positive for the highly contagious virus and exhibited symptoms.
“We're hopeful that we've contained the virus and have prevented it from spreading to the other animals,” Page said. “No new dogs have tested positive since Friday.”
Parvovirus is a deadly canine disease that spreads through feces. Symptoms include confusion, lethargy, not eating or drinking, diarrhea and nausea. Officials say veterinarians followed the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals guidelines for animal care in shelters and utilized best practices and research from shelter medicine programs at the University of Florida and University of California Davis.
“Only one parvovirus-positive dog remains in our care. This is a positive indication that our early, proactive steps are making a difference,” said Dr. Kanika Cunningham, St. Louis County health director. “Our shelter population is currently stable, and we remain cautiously optimistic that our actions have helped to slow the spread of parvo in our shelter.”
In the past week, the shelter transferred 32 animals to help prevent the spread of the virus. There are currently 185 dogs in the shelter. County officials are urging any local rescue facility that has space to shelter dogs to reach out.
“We are focused on healing, rebuilding and ensuring a healthier, safer future for every animal that comes through our doors,” Cunningham said.
While the shelter works to keep healthy dogs from becoming infected, Cunningham said the outbreak taught the shelter a tough lesson on what it takes to quickly respond to outbreaks in an animal shelter.
“This was a lesson learned that as we go through outbreaks, making sure that we have the proper space to be able to isolate and quarantine, because as we're running the animal shelter, we can't prevent outbreaks, but we can do what we can to make sure we have the appropriate spacing and resources available,” she said.
County shelter staff is currently reviewing how the dog with the first case contracted it and if the dog came in with the virus.
“[Parvovirus] is deadly for puppies and even adult dogs frequently don't survive,” Page said. “[I] want folks to know what to look for, understand the importance of getting your dog vaccinated — all the routine vaccines, including parvovirus.”
The shelter and adoption center is closed until further notice.
