One of the scariest dog illnesses, the parvovirus is a virus that can affect a dog of any age and breed. Vaccinations, although helpful against this terrible illness, are not one hundred percent effective. A dog that has had all of its shots may still become infected. Puppies who are under the age of 16 weeks are the most common victims of the disease and even when treated, young puppies often succumb to this illness.

If you have had the unfortunate to have an animal in your home that has had the virus, you are no doubt trying to find ways to ensure that you have removed all traces of it. If you are lucky and your dog did survive, the chances of re-infection are virtually none. However, the risk to other dogs in your home is substantial. Therefore, if you lost your puppy and want to get a new one, it is essential that you do everything possible to remove all traces of the virus from your home beforehand.

The Latin word for small is parvus. The first thing to understand is that the parvovirus is small. Even in the germ world, this one is tiny. It is also incredibly resilient and can survive in many different conditions and live on countless different surfaces.
The best place to start is to get rid of any toys that the dog had. Throw away everything you possibly can that the dog was in direct contact with. If you are planning to keep any of the dog's bowls or brushes you must thoroughly clean and sanitise them.

There are four ways that you can start cleaning the rest of the house. Bleach is the most commonly recommended sanitising agent, and it is very effective if you keep it in the right proportions. The stronger the solution is, the more effective it will be. You have to make certain that if you do mix the bleach with water, you do not dilute the solution to the point where it will no longer be effective.
There is a great deal of debate over the effectiveness of Lysol and Parvosol. Many shelters do not use either product because they would rather use bleach and be certain. Bleach is also a lot cheaper than the other two and will evaporate and not harm the other animals in the shelter.

Bleach, although great is not something that you can use on every surface in the house. Carpets will have to be cleaned as well. The best thing to do with carpets is to steam clean them and then do them again with a sanitising agent. One agent that you can use that is effective is 256 Disinfectant. This cleaning agent is used by a number medical facilities both human and animal. You can use this on carpets, but you should always do a spot test and follow all the instructions that are on the label. Remember that carpets are porous and there is never any guarantee that you have managed to kill off all traces of the parvovirus virus.

You should also be aware that the grass and concrete outside of your home may be contaminated. You can use bleach on sidewalks and other surfaces. However, the parvovirus can also survive in the ground so you need to take precautions. You can spray the grass with a bleach solution. You probably will not completely kill the virus, but it will help. The one-time treatment should not have a detrimental effect on the grass if you use in a ½ to a gallon of water ratio.

The parvovirus is deadly. You cannot take chances with any of your animals or with the neighbour's dogs. Clean everything that you can and make certain to warn your friends not to bring their pets over until the danger has completely passed. Dog illnesses of this type can spread very quickly if you do not take every possible precaution.