The parvovirus, a deadly, contagious virus that mainly affects dogs, is spreading throughout Maine, shuttering dog parks in Aroostook County this week in what one police department described as a “rampant Parvovirus outbreak.”
The Houlton police released a public service announcement Sunday declaring that there were “several” confirmed cases of the virus in that community. The next day, both Caribou and Fort Fairfield announced their dog parks would be closed indefinitely.
A national parvovirus tracker produced by animal health company Elanco displays a high risk of the virus in Maine. It listed 29 cases in the state as of Wednesday afternoon, though none North of Hancock County, which has 20 current cases, according to the tracker.
Caribou’s parks and recreation superintendent told local television on Tuesday that its dog park would likely reopen “in the next couple days” because of a lack of reported cases from veterinarians in Caribou, Presque Isle or Fort Kent. But the Fort Fairfield Police Department, in a post on the town’s dog park closure, said it would reevaluate in a few weeks.
The Eastern Maine Emergency Veterinary Clinic, which is based in Holden, said on Monday that it was “continuing to see a spike” in parvovirus cases and that caseload is more sustained than the “mini” outbreaks it sees most summers.
The clinic urged those with unvaccinated dogs not to bring them to a dog park or other areas with high canine traffic.
Parvovirus attacks the white blood cells and the gastrointestinal tract of dogs, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. It causes vomiting, fever and bloody diarrhea, among other symptoms that can lead to septic shock and potentially death, often within 48 to 72 hours of the first symptoms, according to the association.
Puppies between 6 and 20 weeks old are particularly susceptible to the virus, as are certain breeds, including rottweilers, Dobermann pinschers, bull terrier breeds, German shepherds and English springer spaniels, the association said.
The disease spreads more quickly in places where dogs gather, according to the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The department today urged pet owners to keep puppies, unvaccinated dogs or those with compromised immune systems away from dog parks and similar places until they receive immunization.
The Holden-based clinic is encouraging pet owners with dogs unvaccinated for the virus to get a vaccine as soon as possible. Adults dogs, they said, “may be fully immunized with one vaccine based on their age and vaccine history.”
In Aroostook County, the Houlton Humane Society is holding a vaccine clinic on Oct. 18 that includes the vaccine for the parvovirus, among other diseases.