The Freeborn County Humane Society has closed its doors this week after a virus took the life of one dog in the shelter.

Humane Society leaders discovered parvovirus was in the shelter on Monday, and it has been closed ever since for deep cleaning, said Humane Society Director Christa DeBoer. The shelter will remain closed for at least the remainder of this week and possibly next.

“We don’t want to contaminate the shelter any further or have people bring it home to their pets,” she said.

DeBoer said parvovirus is highly contagious among dogs and is known to severely affect a dog’s intestinal tract.

The dog that died was a pit bull that was less than a year old, she said. Another dog has tested positive but is showing signs of improvement.

She noted the cats in the shelter and the people working there are not in jeopardy.

Parvovirus is transmitted by any person, animal or object that comes in contact with an infected dog’s feces. The virus can live in the environment for several months, but can be killed with bleach.

She said the Humane Society has not had the virus in the six years she has worked there, but she has heard that it is not uncommon for shelters to get.

She said while the dogs at the shelter have been vaccinated against the virus, those vaccines may not always be 100 percent effective.

It is particularly difficult when dogs are impounded overnight and then released to their owners, she said, because it is usually unclear what series of vaccinations they may have had before coming there.

DeBoer said the Humane Society will let people know on its Facebook page when the shelter will be open again.

In the meantime, she said if people are willing to donate cleaning supplies, they can leave them outside the door of the shelter.

Supplies sought include bleach and other cleaning supplies such as Pine Sol, scrubbing brushes and S.O.S pads.