Parvo

Our puppy just died from parvo. We have a 3 month old human baby boy that was born with gastritis (intestines outside his body). He was in the hospital for a month and has been out for 2 months now. Can our baby get sick from the parvo disease that our pup died from?

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

I am so sorry for the loss of your puppy and for the problem of your son.  

There is a human Parvovirus known commonly as Fifth Disease, but it has no relationship to Canine Parvovirus.  Canine Parvovirus does not seem to be contagious to humans and cleaning your house with dilute bleach should remove the infection from your home as Ireneo has described above, but it is imperative to check with your Pediatrician and Infectious Disease Doctor at the hospital where your child is currently being treated.

[ireneo]

I'm familiar with quite a few zoonotic diseases (things that can pass from animal to human) but after looking at a list of zoonoses, I don't see canine parvo on the list.

Have you disinfected the areas where the dog was kept? I see that a bleach solution (1:30 ratio - 1 part bleach to 30 parts water) will be sufficient. We use something stronger at work but we're dealing with a lot of creepy critters. :-)