Leptospirosis

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

My Vet has recently started to recommend the Lepto vaccine because she is seeing more cases of dogs in our area with this disease who are not regularly around water.  They must be picking it up from drinking from puddles or even licking wet contaminated paws.  While we are not in a real rural area, there certainly is a lot of wildlife that we see every day.  Apparently that is the problem.  Anyway I came across this write-up and thought it presented some good information.  I'm wondering how many of you are hearing the same thing from your Vet....and does your Doodle swim regularly?

DOG CARE

Leptospirosis Disease in Dogs

By Dr. Kristy Conn

Leptospirosis. It’s a pretty big word for a little dog (or even a big dog, for that matter). It’s one of the fastest-growing diseases in the canine community, and left untreated can result in liver and/or kidney failure. And if that weren’t scary enough, humans can also catch the disease from their dogs. The good news is that it is very preventable and very treatable if you know what signs to look for. Veterinarian Dr. Kristy Conn talks about what the disease is, how you can get it, diagnose it, treat it, or in the best-case scenario, prevent it altogether. A must-read for every dog owner.

Leptospirosis: an emerging zoonotic disease

Leptospirosis is caused by spiral-shaped bacteria from the Leptospira genus which can infect many animals including dogs and humans. Therefore it is a zoonosis, a disease that is transmissible from animals to humans. Incidence occurs worldwide and frequency of incidence is increasing therefore it is considered an emerging disease in humans and in dogs. Leptospirosis was once considered a disease of rural dogs but is being increasingly seen in urban dogs due to urbanization of rural areas and increased contact with wildlife species such as raccoons, skunks, opossums, and rodents.

Transmission

Dogs typically become infected by drinking or swimming in water contaminated with Leptospira organisms shed in urine by the local wildlife. Although leptospirosis can occur anywhere in the United States, it is more common in areas that experience high rainfall areas such as the Northwest, Great Lakes area, and South-Central states. Dogs that swim or drink out of rivers, streams and lakes have the highest risk but transmission can occur whenever there is a contaminated water source no matter how small—such as a puddle in the backyard. Rats and mice can shed the organisms and there are reports of dogs that are mostly indoors contracting leptospirosis from being in close proximity with infected rodents.

Most human cases of leptospirosis are contracted by recreational activities with contaminated water. However, with the increasing incidence of leptospirosis in dogs there is also an increased risk of direct transmission from an infected pet. The incidence of pet to human transmission is currently low but the risk is there and care should be taken when dealing with potentially infected dogs.

Disease

Once infection occurs the bacteria spread throughout the body in the blood over the course of a week. Then the bacteria settle down in the liver and kidneys resulting in hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) and nephritis (inflammation of the kidneys). The bacteria particularly like the renal tubules in the kidney and replicate extensively there, resulting in new infective organisms being shed in the infected dog’s urine. Eventually kidney disease (may be acute or chronic) and liver disease result. Clinical signs will depend on which organ is most affected but can include vomiting, diarrhea, excessive urination and increased thirst, loss of energy, fever, and yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eye. If untreated then sudden liver failure or renal failure can occur and more dire complications such as bleeding disorders and pulmonary hemorrhaging can develop.

Diagnosis

Indicators of liver and kidney disease show up readily on routine blood work such as a general chemistry profile. Leptospirosis should be suspected and ruled out in dogs with liver and/or kidney disease especially if there is a history of possible exposure. The test of choice is the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) which tests for antibodies produced by the body to combat the bacterial infection. If the illness is very sudden, then the MAT will be negative since the body does not have enough time to produce detectable antibodies. Therefore in acute cases PCR testing is more reliable since it can detect the bacteria itself.

Treatment

Antibiotics are the standard treatment of leptospirosis since it is a bacterial infection. Since the bacteria are spread through the urine, caretakers must take great care not to come in contact with the urine. Wear gloves when handling bedding and when taking your dog out try to have the dog relieve themselves in a restricted area. Wash your hands thoroughly after touching an infected dog.

Prevention

As with any disease, prevention is much more effective than treatment. A vaccine is available and should be given to dogs whose lifestyle puts them at risk, such as those that spend a lot of time around water or live in areas where wildlife is common. If your area has a lot of skunks, raccoons, opossums, or rodents then you should consider vaccination. Ask your veterinarian for their recommendation and whether or not leptospirosis is common in your area or not.

People can prevent leptospirosis by taking care not to come in contact with animal urine or bodily fluids, avoiding water that may be contaminated and by wearing footwear around soil that may be contaminated with animal urine.

Awareness and a few simple precautions is really all that is needed to prevent this emerging disease from becoming a greater threat to our pets and ourselves.

[1np1tlyyqzo7v]

Thanks for your thoughts.  It was back in August, and only now, can I talk about her without crying.  Well, some days I can anyway.

Lepto. is almost as rare as being struck by lightening, well maybe a little more common, but still, so, so rare.  Every vet around here has seen about one case per decade that they've been in practice.  I learned a lot going through what happened with Sadie.  I just wish it hadn't been at her expense that I got an education about Lepto, vets, asking the right questions, etc.  We miss her a ton.