SEATTLE — A local veterinarian is giving dog owners a warning about an exposure of the deadly and contagious parvovirus at Seattle’s Magnuson Park, one of the more popular dog parks in western Washington.
Around July 10, one of Dr. Liz Spencer’s puppy patients tested positive for the disease. The puppy was likely exposed at the Magnuson Park off-leash dog area, so Spencer put up signs at the entrances.
“It just seemed like the easiest way to kind of get the heads up to the community that we had had a patient that tested positive that probably had some level of exposure in the area.” Spencer said, “So a good time to just circle back in, make sure that they were taking care of business, getting their vaccines up to date.”
Magnuson is popular in the summer because of its water access to Lake Washington, with hundreds of dogs coming every day.
A dog walker, Tracy Judd, says her clients and her own dogs are all up to date with their vaccine against the disease.
“It’s sad because parvovirus sticks around for a long time,” Judd said.
Judd brings her own water and her own bowls to limit exposure.
“It can kind of eliminate some of those problems for the most part,” Judd said.
Parvovirus can be caught in direct contact with an infected dog or dog droppings. The virus can even live in the soil for up to a year where infected dog droppings have been.
“My vet has records, they send them to me and I get email and text alerts,” Judd said.
Many veterinarian offices offer updates for when pets are due for check ups and vaccinations.
Symptoms include vomiting and persistent diarea. Spencer says, if you see those in your pup, to contact your vet.
“I didn’t want to put out there oh gosh you know everybody’s getting parvo but I just wanted that to be a reminder to folks that we do still some parvo around here." Spencer said.
Puppies are especially vulnerable, typically needing at least three shots before 20 weeks old to build immunity. Though, Spencer warns, the immunity in vaccinated adult dogs can wane after three years.
“A dog where maybe their last distemper-parvo vaccine was five years ago, I’d say go down and get that updated,” Spencer said.
Spencer says she will see one or two parvo cases every year at the Greenlake Animal Hospital. She says Seattle sees relatively few cases, compared to Snohomish County and communities in the South Sound.
“I feel like we’ve been a bit insulated and I don’t know whether that’s changing or not, but the best way to keep it from changing is to make sure that all of our dogs are fully vaccinated,” Spencer said.
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