The killer in our streets: Christchurch parvovirus outbreak leading to grim outcomes

Community Support Officer Nakita doesn’t normally respond to call-outs where animals have passed away, but a parvovirus surge in the Christchurch area is changing that.

Her city has seen a recent uptick in parvovirus cases among unvaccinated dogs and puppies. Local vets are sounding the alarm about the highly contagious, often fatal disease as they see more and more sick canines come through their doors.

Nakita is seeing them too. In late May, she was called to a property where six unvaccinated puppies had been euthanised the day prior due to a parvovirus outbreak. They had likely caught the virus from another dog in the house – who was also unvaccinated and had been walked in the area. The puppies’ owners didn’t have the means to manage the disposal of the bodies themselves, so they called us for help.

"This isn’t typically something we would provide support for,” Nakita told us, “but we had concerns for the welfare of the mother dog and the wider community." The owners were understandably very affected, and were concerned about the potential risk to other dogs nearby. There area number of roaming dogs and properties without full fencing in their neighbourhood which could increase the likelihood of further spread.

Parvovirus is an insidious illness. It’s transmitted through an infected dog’s faeces or vomit, and has an incubation period (the time from infection until clinical signs develop) of anywhere from seven to 14 days.It’s resistant to many kinds of disinfectant, and it can stay on the surfaces it touches – like grass, bedding, cages, food dishes, and the hands or clothing of people who come into contact with it – for up to a year.

The good news? Catching the virus is easily prevented by a simple vaccine. An initial series and regular boosters are all it takes to ensure adog is protected against the highly contagious disease. But cost of living pressures and rising prices are rendering the vaccine inaccessible for many dog owners around Aotearoa, and as a result, the preventable but deadly disease is taking many more lives than it should.

Nakita and her team are doing all they can. In addition to supporting individual families facing the disease head-on, they’re planning a vaccine drive on Wednesday17 June to target four main outbreak clusters in the wider Christchurch community.

Community members with a Community Services Card, Gold Card, or current Student ID can bring their unvaccinated dogs to the Canterbury Indoor Bowls Association (25 Kearneys Rd, Wainoni) from 1PM-4PM on 17 June for free vaccinations. There are no bookings required, but stock is expected to go quickly.

The case Nakita attended “was a very distressing situation for everyone involved,” she said. “It reinforced how quickly parvovirus can spread – and how significant the impact can be, particularly where dogs are unvaccinated.” While she and her team are ready to assist members of their community during the outbreak, they hope that this vaccine drive will prevent a significant number of cases, helping dogs and puppies live healthy lives.