“…The novel parvovirus of canines (canine parvovirus type 2 [CPV-2]) most likely originated by a host species shift from feline parvovirus (FPV) or from FPV-like parvoviruses of wild carnivores. In the 1980s, two antigenic variants of CPV-2 (2a and 2b) arose almost simultaneously and within a few years completely replaced the original variant (6,14,15,23,26,27,28,29,34,35,36,37,38,40). Intriguingly, only a few amino acid changes in the VP2 of FPV, CPV-2, and CPV-2a and -2b account for important antigenic/biological modifications (18,25,30,39,41).…”