2.1 Sample and data
collection
Residual faecal samples from dogs with parvoviral enteritis diagnosed
using a point-of-care (POC) faecal antigen ELISA, or qPCR performed at a
commercial laboratory (VetPath, Perth), were collected. Samples were
collected between March 2015 and August 2019 from five of Australia’s
eight States and Territories (Figure 1). The patient’s age, breed, sex
and postcode of origin were recorded. Postcode was used to derive region
of origin defined by the Australian Government (Department of
Infrastructure, Transport, Cities and Regional Development, 2018).
Vaccination data obtained from medical records were used to assign cases
to one of four categories: unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated,
completely vaccinated or unknown vaccination status. Completely
vaccinated was defined as a dog that had received a puppy vaccination
series comprising of at least two modified live virus (MLV) CPV
vaccinations one month apart, with the last vaccination administered no
earlier than 16-weeks of age, followed by a booster vaccine between 6 to
12 months of age, and revaccination every three years. Dogs less than
16-weeks of age that had received one or more CPV vaccinations were
considered incompletely vaccinated (Day, Horzinek, Schultz, & Squires,
2016). Data obtained from patient medical records were used to classify
each case according to whether treatment was given (treated or
untreated), and whether the dog recovered, died or was euthanised.