No abstract

Feline panleukopenia (FPL), a frequently fatal disease of cats, is caused by feline parvovirus (FPV) or canine parvovirus (CPV). We investigated simultaneous outbreaks of FPL between 2014 and 2018 in Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where FPL outbreaks had not been reported for several decades. Case data from 989 cats and clinical samples from additional 113 cats were obtained to determine the cause of the outbreaks and epidemiological factors involved. Most cats with FPL were shelter-housed, 9 to 10 weeks old at diagnosis, unvaccinated, had not completed a primary vaccination series or had received vaccinations noncompliant with current guidelines. Analysis of parvoviral VP2 sequence data confirmed that all FPL cases were caused by FPV and not CPV. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that each of these outbreaks was caused by a distinct FPV, with two virus lineages present in eastern Australia and virus movement between different geographical locations. Viruses from the UAE outbreak formed a lineage of unknown origin. FPV vaccine virus was detected in the New Zealand cases, highlighting the difficulty of distinguishing the co-incidental shedding of vaccine virus in vaccinated cats. Inadequate vaccination coverage in shelter-housed cats was a common factor in all outbreaks, likely precipitating the multiple re-emergence of infection events.

Canine parvovirus (CPV) is a highly contagious cause of serious and often fatal disease in dogs worldwide despite the availability of safe and efficacious vaccines. Although a number of studies have focussed on identifying risk factors in disease development, risk factors associated with death from CPV are largely unknown. In this study we analysed a total of 1451 CPV cases reported from an Australian surveillance system - using univariate and multivariate techniques - to determine significant risk factors associated with death and euthanasia. A crude case fatality rate of 42.3% was estimated - higher than has been reported previously. We found that 3.3% of CPV cases had a history of vaccination in the previous 12 months, despite having completed the primary puppy vaccination course. The majority (89.5%) of these cases occurred in dogs <12 months of age, indicating failure of the primary vaccination course to provide protective immunity (most likely due to interference of the vaccine antigen with maternal antibodies but other reasons are discussed). Extending the age at which the final puppy vaccination is administered might be one of several strategies to consider. The final multivariate model showed that in non-litter CPV cases, risk of death was significantly associated with season of diagnosis (summer) and pedigree type (hounds and non-sporting dogs). Euthanasia in non-litter CPV cases was significantly associated with season of diagnosis (summer), state of residence (Northern Territory/South Australia/Tasmania combined), age (

No abstract

To identify clusters of canine parvoviral related disease occurring in Australia during 2010 and investigate the role of socio-economic factors contributing to these clusters, reported cases of canine parvovirus were extracted from an on-line disease surveillance system. Reported residential postcode was used to locate cases, and clusters were identified using a scan statistic. Cases included in clusters were compared to those not included in such clusters with respect to human socioeconomic factors (postcode area relative socioeconomic disadvantage, economic resources, education and occupation) and dog factors (neuter status, breed, age, gender, vaccination status). During 2010, there were 1187 cases of canine parvovirus reported. Nineteen significant (P<0.05) disease clusters were identified, most commonly located in New South Wales. Eleven (58%) clusters occurred between April and July, and the average cluster length was 5.7 days. All clusters occurred in postcodes with a significantly (P<0.05) greater level of relative socioeconomic disadvantage and a lower rank in education and occupation, and it was noted that clustered cases were less likely to have been neutered (P=0.004). No significant difference (P>0.05) was found between cases reported from cluster postcodes and those not within clusters for dog age, gender, breed or vaccination status (although the latter needs to be interpreted with caution, since vaccination was absent in most of the cases). Further research is required to investigate the apparent association between indicators of poor socioeconomic status and clusters of reported canine parvovirus diseases; however these initial findings may be useful for developing geographically- and temporally-targeted prevention and disease control programs.