How Long Does Parvo Stay in the Ground?

Parvovirus is a fairly common and serious disease that kills many puppies every year. It is highly contagious, has a high mortality rate and even the expensive treatment methods do not guarantee that a puppy will survive. Cleaning the environment does completely remove the risk of infection.

  1. Effects

    • Parvovirus or ̶0;parvo̶1; damages cells in the intestinal tract and the white blood cells. On rare occasions, it may cause inflammation of a puppy̵7;s heart, leading to permanent heart problems This virus primarily affects puppies under the age of 12 weeks; however, older, unvaccinated dogs are also vulnerable. Parvo is highly contagious, spread by people, insect, dogs, rodents or animals that come into contact with feces excreted by an infected dog. Severe and often bloody diarrhea is the most common symptom associated with parvo. Dogs with parvo may also demonstrate vomiting, fever, or lowered white blood cell counts. Treating parvo primarily consists of treating the symptoms and, regardless of how well or how quickly the dog is treated, parvo may result in death in as few as two days.

    Environmental Treatment

    • Parvo is only eradicated from the ground through the application of a 1:30 bleach and water solution or approximately 4 ounces of bleach in a gallon of water. Before applying this solution, organic matter such as vomit and feces must be removed from the dog̵7;s yard, as organic matter interferes with the solution̵7;s absorption into the ground.

    Yards with Sun

    • The entire yard must be soaked with the bleach solution to prevent the spread of parvovirus. If you owned a puppy or a dog that died from the virus, wait at least five months before getting another and placing it in the same environment. A sunny yard can be considered contaminated for up to five months even if no recontamination has occurred.

    Yards in Shade

    • As with the sunny yard, the shaded yard should be thoroughly soaked with a bleach solution. Shaded yards do not get the same benefits of decontamination from the sun̵7;s rays. For this reason, new puppies should not be introduced to shaded yards for a minimum of seven months.

    Frozen Ground

    • Frozen ground cannot be decontaminated; therefore, the ground will harbor the virus for as long as it remains frozen. Once the ground has thawed and can be treated, you can reintroduce a dog after the five-to-seven-month decontamination period has been completed.