Canine Parvo Virus

All dogs are susceptible to the highly contagious canine parvovirus, but puppies under four months old and unvaccinated dogs are most at risk. The term "parvo" is frequently used to describe canine parvovirus infections that cause illness. Although most Parvoviruses are species-specific, parvoviruses are small, non-enveloped, single-stranded DNA viruses that are known to infect a variety of mammalian species. Parvovirus binds to the host cell by the double-stranded ends of the genome and needs the host cell for replication, more specifically the cell nucleus. Viral replication occurs only in rapidly dividing cells such as intestinal crypt epithelial cells, precursor cells in the bone marrow, and myocardiocytes. Viral replication result in cell death and loss due to failure of mitosis. Not all fast-dividing cell populations are equally affected, suggesting a viral tropism for certain target organs.