Deadly Disease Increasing In Frequency

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease and, like rabies, it can affect both animals and humans. It can lead to chronic liver and kidney disease ultimately resulting in organ failure and fatality, but it is treatable and vaccination isn’t always recommended…

Preventive vaccination over the last 30 years has made this disease far less common. However, there are 4 primary strains of Leptospira and not all versions of vaccine protect against all strains. Additionally, the vaccine tends to produce more adverse reactions than other vaccines.

Infection is transmitted by bodily fluids… saliva, urine, blood. A dog can get infected by being bitten, sniffing urine or coming in contact with secretions in water, bedding, etc., so multi-animal places such as shelters and kennels pose a higher risk.

Leptospira prefer wet conditions. Within the body the bacteria travels through the bloodstream and settles in the kidneys (hence urine becomes a delivery mechanism for spreading the bacteria). In the environment, it’s more prevalent in spring and autumn with moderate temperatures and wet soil as well as in tropical climates.

Symptoms Include:

•Fever

•Loss of appetite

•Vomiting

•Excessive drinking

•Joint pain

•Conjunctivitis

•Lethargy and fatigue

•Depression

•Frequent and dark urination

•Jaundiced

Diagnosis And Treatment

Diagnosis can be made with blood and urine tests.

The infection is treated with antibiotics while other treatments are necessary to treat the symptoms. In advanced cases there may be irreversible kidney and liver damage.

Prevention

There are three aspects to control in the dogs environment:

1) Multi-dog environments such as dog parks, shelters and kennels pose more risk

2) Standing water is a breeding ground

3) Rodents such as rats, raccoons, skunks and opossums are carriers

The Leptosporosis Vaccine Is Often Included In The Core Vaccine For Dogs. Two Things Of Note:

1) There are 4 prevalent strains of Leptosporosis. During the 1980’s the vaccine was for two of the strains. During the 1990’s there were some outbursts of the other two strains of Lepto – which vaccinated dogs were not resistant too. A 4-strain vaccine became available more recently.

2) The Leptosporosis vaccine tends to have the most side effects including allergic reactions, hives, facial swelling and anaphylactic reactions. You want to talk with your Vet and carefully weigh the risks of the Lepto vaccine with the risk posed to your dog.

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