Council probe: parvovirus outbreak, limited isolation and emergency euthanasia at St. Louis County shelter

St. Louis County council members pressed shelter staff on Aug. 7, 2025 about a parvovirus outbreak that staff say overwhelmed the county animal shelter in April and led to emergency euthanasia decisions when isolation and treatment capacity ran out.

Dr. Marissa Bowers, the shelter veterinarian who began working at the facility on March 3, 2025, described being alerted by a memo in mid‑April and finding cases that could not be isolated because the shelter lacked sufficient quarantine space and foster capacity. "We ended up quarantining Room 500, which is our biggest dog holding room, for about nine days," she said. When cases later reappeared and the number of symptomatic animals grew, "we were able to isolate five animals total in our Isolation Room, which is Room 650," she testified, adding that cases then spread into rooms labeled 300, 400, 600 and 700.

Bowers told council members that the shelter did not have a formal parvovirus outbreak management SOP when the incident began; instead she consulted industry…