If you've followed the news this summer, RVers especially need to know how to protect their dog from Parvo during the current outbreak responsible for dozens of tragic pet deaths across the country.

That is the main topic of the week on this week's Episode 411 of the RV Podcast, along with RV news and your questions about the RV Lifestyle.

You can watch the Video Version of the Podcast on our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below:

If you prefer an audio-only version, it's available on all the major Podcast Apps or by clicking the player below:

What is Parvo and what is this current epidemic all about?

It's hard to imagine a more deadly disease that Canine Parvovirus, known as CPV or just Parvo. It is a highly contagious virus and spread from dog to dog by direct or indirect contact with their feces. Vaccines can prevent this infection, but mortality can reach 91% in untreated cases.

Parvo rapidly kills by attacking the gastrointestinal tract of puppies and dogs. A canine parvovirus infection causes severe dehydration, bloody vomiting, and diarrhea. Parvo in dogs also attacks the immune system, weakening the dog’s ability to fend off bacterial infections. Dogs infected with parvo often die from secondary pneumonia or other bacterial infections.

The current epidemic began, as best as can be determined, early in 2022. There are reports of a Parvo-like disease killing dogs in Europe going back to January.

The current outbreak got nationwide attention in the summer of 2022 from cases first reported in Northern Michigan. But similar cases have been reported in Texas, North Carolina, Colorado, Arkansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Florida, as well as other locations.

This outbreak has baffled many because early tests come back negative for Parvo.

Walking Bo.

Interview: How to Protect your Dog from Parvo

Our guest this week is Melissa Fitzgerald, the animal control officer for Otsego County, Michigan. Northern Michigan is the epicenter of the outbreak, where dozens of dogs have died under mysterious circumstances that, after much confusion, have now been liked to Parvo.

It was Melissa who first sounded the alarm about this epidemic, which has now been reported across the country and in Europe.

She is our special guest in this episode of the RV Podcast:

Mike:                Well, Melissa Fitzgerald joins us now. Melissa, thank you so much for making some time for this really important story I think that people need to know. Let's start with what you have found up there in God's country, Northern Michigan, Otsego County. When did this start? How many animals are affected? And then let's take it from there and see how widespread this is.

Melissa:            So we received a couple of phone calls toward the end of June that their dogs were dying of parvo. When they would take them to a vet, they would test negative for Parvo. So the vet would treat them as they saw fit. And then, three to five days, the dog died. So we were able to get a couple of necropsies down to the MSU lab, and they were coming back as a positive for Parvo.

Mike:                Even though they initially...