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.

[Martha & Cooper]

Karen, Yes, Cooper got the first of two the newer Lepto shots when he had the reaction and a Kennel Cough vaccine at the same time because we were going to be leaving him for the first time that weekend.   He has had two more Kennel Cough vaccinations without incident since.     I wish he were able to take the Lepto vaccination and have been considering talking to his Vet about using the protocol for allergic reaction if Lepto starts to become an issue around here.   We do miss out when we want to go to some of the Doodle Romps that involve water and I think about this when I consider taking him camping with us where there would be a lot of wildlife. 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Our vet recommends the Lepto vaccine, as well, and gives it as part of the combination DHLPP vaccine. Wally has never had an adverse reaction. When Charlotte received that older version this past summer, she did have a serious reaction, and we couldn't know for certain to which component she was allergic. I didn't know that there was a newer version; I will ask for that in the future for both dogs. Thanks.

[Clifford, Cloud, Jake..and Kim]

My vet has been recommending it for several years.  My doodles are rarely near bodies of water but we still give the vaccine because they are in our yard a lot and can pick up anything from anything that wandered through in the night.  Some vets give the DHLPP which includes the lepto, mine does not because of some bad reactions.  Remember, it is a two shot series (at least through my vet).

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Our dogs have always got this with their shots but I never knew the whole background! Thanks Jane!

[Carol Brand]

The Lepto vaccine is highly problematic and I DO NOT give it to my dogs.  My neighbor's dog got very, very sick from the Lepto vaccine.  Anecdotal evidence seems to point to the fact that hers was not an isolated case.  As a Poodle breeder I will tell you that over-vaccination has been convincingly linked to auto-immune problems in our breed.  Anyone with a Poodle mix should tread very carefully when it comes to vaccines!

From what I have seen, dogs get Lepto not from creeks and streams but from exposure in their own backyards. For this reason, I do everything in my power to keep raccoon (common carriers) out of my yard.  I do not leave dog food outside and I harass raccoon whenever I see them.   Standing water also seems to be an issue.  Lepto was more common when we lived in the Pacific Northwest.  It is relatively rare here in Colorado.  Know your environment.

Here is a write up about Lepto that is against getting the vaccine.  As an owner, you should NEVER just do what your vet tells you. It is your job to advocate for your dog and make informed decisions.

Lepto is honestly one of the ways I choose my vets: If a vet gets red in the face and starts talking about the fact that every dog needs lepto vaccines and how it’s our duty to protect our dogs against this terrible disease and how a puppy they saw six months ago died of Lepto, the chances I will re-book an appointment are about zero. Lepto is a disease we have PLENTY of information about, and vets have no excuse for not knowing their stuff.

Leptospirosis itself is a very icky disease. There is no question about that. I am not someone who thinks that dogs should just be allowed to get sick and get over it because that’ll help their immune systems or something; if one of my dogs was diagnosed with advanced Lepto I would go into an incredible freak-out panic and she’d be at Tufts in ICU before you could spit. Lepto tends to attack the liver and kidneys and if it is not caught in time it can be deadly. Fortunately, it is treatable with antibiotics, but the disease is rare enough that even very good vets can miss it and it can get very advanced before it’s treated. 

The nastiness of Lepto is what makes vets insist on vaccinating for it. They’ll tell you that you need to do this for the sake of the dog, just like we do shots for distemper or parvovirus. But Lepto is NOT a virus, and that’s why the vaccination picture is so unclear. It’s a bacteria. It’s actually a spirochete, which is a long skinny bacteria shaped like a twirly candy cane. Unfortunately, it’s not very sweet in what it does. 

Vaccinations against viruses are something doctors and scientists have figured out how to do REALLY well. As long as the virus is relatively stable, they can knock out a very effective, often life-long, vaccine in a few months or even weeks. Even for viruses that change frequently, like flu, they can do a surprisingly decent job of creating a rotating vaccine series. 

Viruses for bacteria are MUCH, MUCH harder to create. Bacteria are easy to kill, hard to vaccinate against. This has to do with factors that would require me to go back into my notes from Cell Biology and Immunology, and those notes THANKFULLY burned up (one of the few things I’m glad are gone, so they don’t stare at me from the shelf and mutely accuse me of things relating to the fact that my degree is currently being used to wipe dogs’ feet at the door), so I am going to condense it into “It’s really tricky and prone to failure whenever you try to vaccinate for a bacteria.”

And, frustratingly, even when you do come up with a decent bacterial vaccine, it only works for a few months. In the case of Leptospirosis, the vaccine definitely lasts under 12 months, possibly under six.

So that’s the first problem: The vaccine only works for a few months.

Second, and this is one of the other problems with bacteria, there are lots of strains of Lepto, and the current vaccines lag behind what’s actually causing outbreaks.

Outbreaks of disease tend to play leapfrog with vaccinations. What often happens is that there will be a Big Bad Situation, and into that outbreak will come our heroes, immunologists with red spandex suits and “I” on their chests. They’ll test a bunch of dogs, find that strains A and B of the Big Bad disease are causing it, and spend years developing a good vaccine against A and B. They fly back in, vaccinate a ton of dogs, and A and B will largely disappear from the population.

Success! 

But… with the absence of A and B, strains C and D have lots of room to stretch their legs and have a dance party. And before you know it there’s another outbreak, this time of C and D.

Back fly our heroes, test the dogs, develop a vaccine, and everybody gets vaccinated for C and D.

Which… you guessed it… leaves room for A and B to come roaring back.

This tends to happen over a timeframe of several decades. And eventually somebody creates a vaccine with A, B, C, AND D in it, which will be hailed as a breakthrough and given to everybody, and all will be well, until a few resistant A bacteria mutate into E and F.

Where we are at with Lepto right now, as I understand what I am reading, is the recurrence of A and B, which had not been seen for years. All vaccines except some of the Fort Dodge lepto vaxes are currently only for C and D. Fort Dodge has ABCD, so that’s the only one anyone can currently recommend, except for…

The third major problem with Lepto vaccines, which are that they are associated with a TON of side effects.

Lepto vaccines have killed thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of puppies across the country. Severe reactions are seen most often in the toy breeds but nobody’s safe. The vaccine is strongly associated with anaphylaxis (a severe and fatal allergic reaction) and you can lose whole litters to it. It’s not great for adults either but they seem to be able to tolerate it at least marginally better.

The fourth problem with Lepto vaccine is not actually a problem; it’s a good thing. And that is that Leptospirosis is a rare disease and the majority of the country has zero cases per year.

The upshot of the whole thing is this:

If you are in a state that has a current Lepto problem, and your dogs are likely to be exposed  (Lepto is spread in rat urine, and some dogs are just simply never going to encounter that), the only “right” way to vaccinate is AFTER 12 weeks at an absolute minimum, using a vaccine with ALL FOUR STRAINS, and repeating EVERY SIX MONTHS. 

Has any vet ever told you that you should use a different brand? Anbody ever told you that you’d have to come back in six months for a Lepto booster? Nobody’s ever told me that. They just push the super-combo vaccine, without telling me that the Lepto they’d be giving would be largely ineffective right off the bat and would be totally ineffective in a few months. 

Bottom line: Vaccine protection against Lepto is an illusion AND it’s dangerous for your dog. If you are genuinely concerned about it and are willing to risk the vaccine, you will need to be your dog’s own best advocate and insist on frequent re-vaccination and on brand selection for all four strains.

Personally, even though there IS Lepto in Massachusetts, I won’t vaccinate for it. I keep the disease in the back of my mind and I know the symptoms (vomiting, fever, jaundice, kidney function decline). In the same way that because I live here I am very, very quick to suspect tick-borne disease, I would also be quick to ask for a Lepto test if I had a hot and vomiting dog. 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Wow that is interesting. What is the source of this information? My cage free country boarding facility requires the vaccine among all the others, in order to allow dogs to stay there. I wonder if they are missing something. they don't have any reason to require it, actually it is probably more harmful to their business, so I would imagine they have a good reason for it. Just wondering...

[Carol Brand]

BTW.... the source of the information in my first post is from Ruffly Speaking http://blacksheepcardigans.com/ruff/.

Joanna Kimball is, IMHO, one of the most sensible and knowledgeable dog people out there.  She breeds Corgies and blogs about dog issues in general.  I don't always completely agree with her, but when she speaks, I listen. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

I was wondering who wrote this too? There is a lot of controversy now about vaccinating people and dogs for just about anything. I usually am a strong advocate for vaccination but I try to be objective and get the facts.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I wonder about the date it was written, too. My vet told me that within the past two years, they have had a huge increase in the number of lepto cases they see, that where they never saw one case from one year to the next, they had 6 of them within a 6 month period- all suburban housepets. That's why they started recommending it.

JD's immunology specialist is very very conservative about vaccinating, but she told me that if Jack is going to be in the rivers, ponds, streams, etc at the forest preserves, he absolutely must be vaccinated against lepto.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

My guys both have it. I was hesitant at first because I wasn't sure it was necessary but I do go to the cottage in the summer and I have let Sophie swim in the rivers nearby a few times so I figure better safe than sorry.

[Carol Brand]

I'm away from my house right now, but when I get home, I will get a reference for the information I posted. Here, however, is another anti-Lepto vaccine article written by a vet in Spring 2010. : http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/leptospirosis-vaccine/

Vaccines do play an important roll in our the health of dogs. However, I've found that too many vets push for unneeded vaccinations. Vaccines are a HUGE money maker for the companies that produce them and they have a vested interest in ensuring that vets will recommend them to their clients. Example... how many of you vaccinate your dogs yearly for Parvo/Distemper? Do you know that every current study shows that dogs develop a 7-14 year immunity after the 1 year booster?

If nothing else, before you run out and vaccinate your dog for Lepto, ask your vet how many dogs he has treated for Lepto in his practice in the last year. See what he says. They ask how many dogs he has treated for Addisons, IMHA, IMT or chronic allergies. These are all auto-immune responses and they ALL have been linked to over vaccination.

[Carol Brand]

Here is another informative article on Lepto written in 2011 by a vet:

http://www.2ndchance.info/leptospirosis.htm