A quarantine remains in place at the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society after it took in a stray dog last week that became sick with a virus.
\nThe dog was taken in from the city of Altoona on Sunday, Aug. 13, showed signs of parvovirus and had become extremely ill by last Saturday. CPHS\u2019s operations director Ingrid Healy said the dog \u201cwas lethargic, was laying down and could not get up.\u201d
\nShe said the dog had blood in its stool and a distinct foul odor associated with parvovirus. A test was done that came back positive for parvo, according to Healy. She said the dog was \u201con death\u2019s door\u201d and was euthanized.
\nShe said parvo is a canine virus that attacks rapidly dividing cells in the digestive system, which attacks the intestines. Healy said it can also damage the heart and causes severe dehydration.
\n\u201cThe parvo virus spreads through any traces of feces,\u201d said Healy. \u201cWe are doing our normal and strict protocol for cleaning the kennels. In addition to that, we\u2019ve added the sidewalks and the paths to the outdoor runs because that\u2019s grass. We are using a bleached solution on the grass and the sidewalks too.
\n\u201cThe virus can live six to nine months or even a year on a blade of grass,\u201d said Healy. \u201cSo even during the harshest winter, parvo can survive and can infect a dog in the spring.\u201d
\nShe explained the reason the organization decided to put the quarantine into effect.
\n\u201cIt should be standard protocol for any humane society or any facility that houses dogs,\u201d said Healy.
\n\u201cWe decided that it is in our best interests to protect our remaining dogs and also the public\u2019s animals,\u201d said Healy. \u201cThe purpose of the quarantine is because it is so easily transmitted. We want to observe all of our dogs because the incubation for parvo once (a dog is) in contact with it is about 10 days.
\n\u201cWe vaccinate all incoming dogs, and that has always been our practice, it\u2019s not just because of this parvo situation,\u201d said Healy. \u201cIt\u2019s been a practice for many, many years.\u201d
\nHealy said the dog was exposed to the virus before it arrived at the shelter in Greenwood. She said both the virus and the vaccine take about the same amount of time to have an effect on a dog, \u201cso it\u2019s which ever one can get to the dog first.\u201d
\nShe noted during the quarantine, \u201cthe shelter is not closed for business.\u201d
\nDuring the quarantine, the public is prohibited from entering the kennels or the puppy room. The virus is not a threat to people or other animals.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t want people taking anything out of here if there was a problem,\u201d said Healy. \u201cWe don\u2019t want people bringing something in here because we don\u2019t want to start a new problem.\u201d
\nIf a stray is brought in to the shelter, the owner may reclaim it, but Healy said they would be advised about the situation and to watch their dog for two weeks for any sign of illness. If a retrieved dog shows any signs then a veterinarian should be contacted immediately.
\n\u201cWe can not take responsibility for their dog being stray or not being vaccinated prior to the shelter doing a vaccination,\u201d said Healy.
\nShe said parvo is more likely to affect puppies because they don\u2019t have a fully developed immune system. She said the infected dog was an adult, but because it was a stray there is no way to know if the dog had been vaccinated. She said had the dog been vaccinated, it \u201cmight have been able to survive or get through it better, but we\u2019ll never know for sure.\u201d
\nHealy also offered these suggestions for dog owners.
\n\u201cFollow your veterinarian\u2019s advice on vaccinations,\u201d said Healy. \u201cThe shelter receives a lot of stray dogs, (so) please put an identification tag on your dog. If it\u2019s at night or a weekend we can\u2019t call the courthouse or the city to trace a dog license to the owner. (Also), the person who finds your dog can even call you before it even has to come to the shelter.\u201d
\nThe quarantine is expected to remain in effect until at least Monday. For more information, the public can contain CPHS at 942-5402.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A quarantine remains in place at the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society after it took in a stray dog last week that became sick with a virus. The dog was taken in from the city of Altoona on Sunday, Aug. 13, showed signs of parvovirus and had become extremely ill by last Saturday. CPHS\u2019s operations director […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}