Contagious Disease Spread, Distemper, Influenza, Calicivirus, Herpesvirus, FIV, FIP, etc.

Contagious Disease Spread

Canine Distemper

Excreted in :	All body excretions (feces, urine, etc), but most abundant in respiratory secretions
Mode of transmission:	Highly contagious. Aerosol, droplet, direct contact spread most common. Fomite transmission over short time/distance.
Disinfection	Routine disinfection is adequate. Susceptible to heat, drying and most common disinfectants
Incubation	Fever spike 3-6 days post-infection, clinical signs 1-4 weeks post-infection (longer incubation more common), CNS signs may appear up to 3 months later with or without preceding signs
Post-recovery shedding	Up to 90 days, but usually < 60 days

Canine Influenza

Excreted in :	Primarily oropharyngeal secretions (mucous, saliva)
Mode of transmission:	Direct, fomite and AEROSOLIdeally infected dogs should be kept in an area with separate ventilation. At minimum, infected dogs should be separated from other dogs by at least 30 feet.
Disinfection	Persists < 1 week in the environment. Inactivated by most commonly used disinfectants such as alcohol, bleach, quaternary ammonium compounds, and potassium peroxymonosulfate (e.g. Trifectant ®).
Incubation	Onset of signs 2-4 days post infection. Onset of shedding 2-5 days post infection. Note that maximum shedding may occur prior to development of clinical signs.
Post-recovery shedding	Shedding resolves within 7 days post infection.

Bordetella (Kennel Cough)

Excreted in :	Primarily ocular, nasal and oral secretions
Mode of transmission:	Highly contagious. Transmitted by aerosolized microdroplets, fomites over moderate time/distance, direct contact.
Disinfection	Routine disinfection adequate for all but CAV-2, which requires bleach 1:32 or potassium peroxymonosulfate to fully inactivate à	CAV-2 probably a minor player in most cases of kennel cough
Incubation	3-10 days
Post-recovery shedding	Bordetella may be shed up to 3 months. Viral agents shed < 2 weeks à	Infectious risk is greatly reduced when dogs no longer have discharge or coughing.

Canine Parvo Virus

Excreted in :	Feces –shedding often precedes clinical signs by a couple of days L
Mode of transmission:	Readily spread due to extreme environmental resistance – direct contact, fomites, mechanically spread by rodents and insects, can be aerosolized by high pressure sprayers
Disinfection	THOROUGH cleaning followed by bleach 1:32 or potassium peroxymonosulfate. No way to fully decontaminate unbleachable materials/organic matter such as grass or dirt yards. May persist for months or years, especially in dark, cool environments.
Incubation	3 -14 days (usually 4 -7 days, occasionally up to 21 days)
Post-recovery shedding	Usually <2 weeks

Coccidia

Excreted in :	Feces
Mode of transmission:	Fecal-oral, very effectively spread by fomites
Disinfection	Resistant to many disinfectants. High heat cleaning/scalding water or 10% ammonia solution are reportedly effective. Frequent litter box changes are helpful, as it takes 8-36 hours to become infectious in feces.
Incubation	Prepatent period 3-11 days
Post-recovery shedding	1-9 weeks

Feline Calicivirus

Excreted in :	All body excretions, especially oronasal secretions.
Mode of transmission:	Highly contagious, moderately environmentally persistent. Spread by direct contact, fomite spread over significant time/distance, droplet spread over distances < five feet
Disinfection	Not reliably killed by quaternary ammonium or many other disinfects, including many alcohol hand sanitizers. Inactivated by bleach or potassium peroxymonosulfate (Trifectant/Virkon) applied to clean surface free of organic matter. Can persist in environment up to 4 weeks if not killed by disinfection.
Incubation	Usually 1-5 days
Post-recovery shedding	Extended. Most shed > 30 days after recovery, and some cats shed life long.

Feline Herpesvirus

Excreted in :	Primarily in nasal, ocular and oral secretions
Mode of transmission:	Direct contact, fomite spread over short time/distance, droplet spread over distances < five feet
Disinfection	Routine disinfection adequate. Survives no more than 18 hours in the environment (long enough to be transported on unwashed hands or scrub tops, however!)
Incubation	Usually 2-6 days; recrudescent disease usually observed within ~ 7 days after a stressful event.
Post-recovery shedding	2-3 weeks; see carrier state
Carrier state?	Yes indeed, > 80% of infected cats remain chronic carriers and intermittently shed with stress

FIV

Excreted in :	Primarily saliva, genital fluids
Mode of transmission:	Not highly contagious. Transmitted primarily through biting and mating.
Disinfection	Routine disinfection adequate.
Incubation	Antiviral antibodies first detected 2-4 weeks post infection; clinical signs usually develop within 3-6 years post-infection
Post-recovery shedding	N/A
Carrier state?	Cats may be viremic and appear healthy for extended periods, but are infectious to other cats

FIP

Excreted in :	FECV excreted primarily in feces. FIP rarely shed as such, and even when it is, it is rarely infectious.
Mode of transmission:	FECV is highly contagious, transmitted by contact with feces, easily transmitted by fomites. FIP is rarely transmitted as such: cats in stable households with FIP positive cat are at little increased risk for contracting disease compared with other cats in multiple cat (> 5 cats) environments1. Kittens introduced to FIP endemic shelters/catteries were at greatly increased risk for contracting FIP2,3, even if adult cats were not showing signs of disease. Littermates of FIP positive cat are at increased risk (25-40%) due to shared genetic predisposition as well as common exposure history. Mothers of FIP kittens are not at significantly higher risk for disease but may be at higher risk for transmission of mutable strain of FeCV.
Disinfection	Routine disinfection adequate to inactivate virus. Reduction of crowding, good sanitation and frequent cleaning of litter boxes, use of low dust/tracking litter is important to reduce overall load of FECV in environment.
Incubation	Clinical signs due to FECV infection rarely appreciated. FIP most commonly develops within 6-18 months post-infection.
Post-recovery shedding	Cats with FECV may shed for months, although recognizable clinical signs due to infection are rare. Shed usually stops within a year if the cat is removed from a multiple cat environment, thus preventing reinfection.
Carrier state?	40-60% of shelter cats will be shedding FECV at any given time.

Feline Leukemia

Excreted in :	Primarily saliva, although also found in milk, blood and urine
Mode of transmission:	Close contact or fomites contaminated with saliva. Does not survive long in environment.
Disinfection	Routine disinfection is adequate.
Incubation	Up to four weeks from exposure to viremia detectable by antigen test; development of clinical signs may not occur for months after infection (average survival 2 years).
Post-recovery shedding	No, but see comment below
Carrier state?	Cats may be viremic and appear healthy for extended periods, but are infectious to other cats

Giardia

Excreted in:	feces
Mode of transmission:	Fecal-oral either directly or indirectly via e.g. fecal contaminated water or food.
Disinfection:	Cysts can exist for months in a moist/cool environment. Quaternary ammonium-containing disinfectants are effective at room temperature. Drying of kennels also helps in between disinfection.
Incubation:	Average prepatent period is 8 days in dogs, 10 days in cats. Onset of disease (if it occurs) may precede cyst shedding by 1-2 days.
Post-recovery shedding:	Shedding may still occur even after disease is treated. It is advisable to retest animal at the end of treatment and then again several weeks later.
Carrier state?:	YES. Most infections in otherwise healthy adult animals are asymptomatic. Self cure is possible as is chronic shedding.

Panleukopenia

Excreted in :	All body secretions during acute disease, but most often feces –shedding often precedes clinical signs by a couple of days L
Mode of transmission:	HIGHLY contagious – direct contact, fomite spread, mechanically spread by rodents and insects, can be aerosolized by high pressure sprayers
Disinfection	THOROUGH cleaning followed by bleach 1:32 or potassium peroxymonosulfate (Virkon or Trifectant). No way to fully decontaminate unbleachable materials/organic matter such as grass or dirt yards.
Incubation	3 -14 days (usually 5-7 days)
Post-recovery shedding	Maximum 6 weeks
Carrier state?	No, but mild or inapparent infection is common, especially in adults. Cats may uncommonly be carriers of canine parvovirus.

Ringworm

Mode of transmission:	Present on hair, very readily shed in environment, extremely contagious, may be carried on hair and dust long distances on fomites and through heating and ventilation ducts
Disinfection	Highly resistant, can persist for over a year. Repeated applications of bleach at high concentration (1:10) and prolonged contact most practical method of inactivation, commercial steam cleaning for carpets. Some environments can’t be decontaminated.
Incubation	1-3 weeks
Post-recovery shedding	Cats can remain infectious for several weeks following clinical recovery.
Carrier state?	True carrier state uncommon, but cats can act as mechanical carriers without developing clinical signs themselves.

Sarcoptic Mange

Excreted in :	In fur and immediate environment.
Mode of transmission:	Direct contact, fomite transmission. Mites live off host up to 6 days at room temperature, longer (up to 21 days) in moist cool environment.
Disinfection	Environments that are not’t easily mechanically cleaned and disinfected (home-like environments) should be treated with an environmental pesticide.
Incubation	Dogs may show signs within a few days of infection
Post recovery shedding	Live mites may remain after resolution of pruritus – continue treatment for 2 weeks past remission, at least 4-6 weeks
Carrier state?	Yes – all dogs in prolonged direct contact (house or kennel mates) with affected dog should be treated, as asymptomatic carriers exist.