Chapter 13: Communicating with the General Public when Parvoviral Infections Occur in your Shelter

• The presence of cases of CPV in the shelter should be communicated to local veterinarians and to the public.
• Adopters should be informed of the exposure status of their new dog with a copy of any relevant medical records, and should sign a medical waiver form at the time of adoption.
• All adopters should be given a CPV information handout which should include a description of the disease and the associated clinical signs of an infected animal.
• As always people who have recently adopted an animal should be strongly advised to have the animal examined by a veterinarian. In the event that the adopted animal had been kept in an area where there was even a remote chance that it could have been exposed to CPV at the shelter, the adopter should be informed and it should be made clear to them that they should notify their veterinarian so that they may examine the dog, perform any necessary diagnostic tests, and properly advise the owner on the care of their newly adopted animal.