2014 Baker Institute News: Canine parvovirus found in wild carnivores

Abstract

This news item is about: When canine parvovirus first emerged in 1978, it caused a global pandemic in which hundreds of thousands of dogs are thought to have died. Since then, the virus has occasionally shown up in wild animals, but these were considered a result of small-scale spillovers from dog populations. A new study by Andrew Allison and Colin Parrish and others shows that many wild carnivores actually carry the virus, and that it is relatively easy for a parvovirus from a wild carnivore to adapt to life in a dog and vice versa.