AN OUTBREAK of a fatal dog virus is killing pets in Ilkley - and could be linked to animals brought into town by travellers.

Vets are advising owners of unvaccinated puppies in particular to be on their guard for the parvo virus, or canine distemper, which can kill dogs in a matter of days.

The virus can exist in large quantities in canine faeces, and is capable of surviving in the soil for months, through extreme hot or cold weather.

Ashlands Veterinary Centre, Leeds Road, has recorded around five cases over the past week, mostly in unvaccinated puppies.

The dogs are all thought to have been walked extensively on the north side of the River Wharfe in Ilkley. Travellers with dogs camped on East Holmes Field between Wednesday and Friday last week.

No drugs available can kill the virus, and some of the infected dogs were so poorly it proved kinder to have them destroyed. Another dog died of the virus.

One of the sick pets admitted to the Ashlands Veterinary Centre is believed to be recovering from the disease.

Vet Andy McGregor said: "We've had four to five cases brought to us in the last seven days, three of which have been so bad we've had to put them to sleep. There have obviously been one or two dogs which have deposited the virus within the environment."

He also fears the virus has caused minor infections in older dogs in the Ilkley area which are vaccinated, or pets whose owners have let the vaccinations lapse.

The parvo virus attacks the dog's intestines, and death

usually results from major organ failure.

Mr McGregor said he could not comment on whether the virus had come from the travellers' dogs. "It is possible," he said. "It's just started in the last week or so, and it certainly seems to be from that side of the river."

Mr McGregor advises all dog owners to observe their own hygiene, cleaning shoes properly if they tread in dog dirt, and to keep puppies indoors until their vaccinations can take full effect.

Signs of parvo in dogs include vomiting and diarrhoea. Experts estimate that enough of the virus is contained in one gramme of faeces from an infected animal to infect a million other dogs. Parvo can also be spread by foxes.