The outbreak was reported on Allonby Avenue and Brunskill Avenue in Forest Hill and residents in the area should remain on high alert.

The CPV manifests itself in two different ways. The more common intestinal form is characterised by vomiting, diarrhea, weight loss and a lack of appetite while the less common cardiac form attracts the heart muscles of young puppies, which leads to death in most cases.

Kooringal Veterinary Hospital practice manager Lisa Ratmund said the virus usually comes bout in the warmer spring and summer seasons.

“We tend to see it in spring once it gets warmer,” she said.

“We didn’t see as much of it last year; we saw a lot of gastro, not parvo. Normally we start to see the outbreak in September but it’s coming a little later this year because we had a bit of an extended winter.

“We’ve seen three cases so far. Dogs can pick it up in a park sniffing around faeces with contaminated dogs. It can stay in the ground for a while and dogs can pick it up when playing in dirt.”