FOI release

FOI2025/00438 - Parvovirus infection post vaccination

Published 19 March 2026

Your request

I lost my puppy (Name redacted), to parvovirus back in February.
I am reaching out to see if there have been any other reports of similar cases around the time of February 2025, in case this was an issue with the vaccine itself.

Our reply

We are able to provide the number of adverse events reports coded to Preferred Term (PT) level as per VeDDRA (VeDDRA (Veterinary Dictionary for Drug Regulatory Activities). All adverse events submitted to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) directly or from Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAH, pharmaceutical company) have their clinical signs coded using this standardised approach. Specifics of adverse events submitted are provided within a narrative section of the submission and the codes used may not exactly correlate verbatim with the detail provided in the narrative.

Based on your request, we have searched for all adverse event reports involving a veterinary medicinal product containing the active substance ‘canine parvovirus’ and the PT level VeDDRA term ‘Lack of efficacy’ in dogs with an adverse event start date between 1st January 2025 and 30th April 2025 and found two cases.

We have included all adverse event reports. This includes:

• where an adverse event has occurred that is already listed on the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC)
• where more than one product was used
• when the product was used off-label, that is using a medicine in a way that is not specified on the product’s label, including prescribing of unauthorised medicines following the prescribing cascade
• where, on further evaluation, there were other reasons for the adverse event occurring such as underlying illnesses or an alternative cause for the clinical signs seen.

Please be aware that the data we have provided above are not subject to independent verification and the VMD does not guarantee their accuracy. Evaluation is dependent on the accuracy and quality of data received from veterinary professionals and animal owners, and reporting frequency can vary over time.

All medicines whether for human or animal use come with risk, and the benefits of use in wider populations need to outweigh the potential risks. Information on adverse events that have been known to occur following administration of a particular product are summarised in sections 3.6/4.6 of the SPC. The SPC is a document describing the properties and the officially approved conditions of use of a medicine. The SPC and associated product information are updated as new information is available, and the latest version of an SPC can be found on our publicly available Product Information Database. We continually assess and update our findings relating to products used within the United Kingdom and should there be sufficient data to suggest that an SPC requires alteration or that another appropriate action is required, this will be carried out within the required timeframe, as set out by the current legislation surrounding that veterinary medicinal product or region.  

If you or someone else involved with the case has not yet reported this adverse event to the relevant MAH, then please do so or speak to your veterinarian, who may be able to do this on your behalf. MAH contact details can be found within the product information that comes packaged with a medicine, on the MAH’s website, or by searching for the product on the Product information Database: https://www.vmd.defra.gov.uk/ProductInformationDatabase/, which contains details of all authorised VMPs.

MAHs have a legal obligation to report all adverse event reports they receive to the VMD within 30 days of awareness, as per paragraph 57 of The Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 and the accompanying guidance in Guideline III Adverse event reporting - GOV.UK.  

If you or your veterinarian has reported the adverse event, you can provide us with the reference number so that we can confirm that this has been received.