What Is the Time Frame for Contagiousness in Puppies with Parvo Virus and How to Diagnose?
Puppies and adult dogs with parvo usually start shedding the virus within 4-5 days of exposure. However, for owners, this period does not usually coincide with the first parvo symptoms. This means that dogs can get contagious before owners even realize that they are sick. Puppies with parvo may continue to shed the virus for about 10 days after clinical recovery, so it is important to keep your puppies recovering from parvo away from unvaccinated and incompletely vaccinated dogs.
The virus can survive outside of your dog indoors for at least one month, and outdoors for many months or a year. You can use an effective cleaner to kill parvovirus. It would also help to talk to your vet about the best way to remove the parvovirus from kennels or your environment.
Parvovirus can be tested in dogs using various effective tests. For example, fecal ELISA tests (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) are the most common tests used for diagnosing parvovirus in dogs. The test usually requires a fecal swab and may take about 10 minutes.
The fecal ELISA test is accurate. However, a negative result does not rule out the virus in a symptomatic dog, because it is possible that they are not shedding the viral antigen at the time of testing. Further testing may be required in cases like this.