What is Leptospirosis?
Leptospirosis (Lepto) is a disease that has been present for a long time. It is a bacterial infection primarily of raccoons, skunks, rats, farm animals, and dogs. This is a bacteria that can also definitely pass to people.
What has caused the increased incidence of Lepto recently?
The recent increase of the disease is due to the large numbers of raccoons and skunks living within urban areas, serving as the main reservoir hosts for the new strains of Lepto.
How would my dog or a person contract this disease?
The bacteria are passed through the urine. Raccoon and skunk urine would be found in areas of standing water, leaves, mud etc. Drinking or licking at these areas is a sufficient means of transmission, if the Lepto bacteria is present. The bacteria are readily passed from dogs to people, given the close contact in our homes.
What would be the signs of this disease?
Leptospirosis causes a sudden onset of lethargy, increased drinking and urinating, vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice, neurological signs, and likely death if untreated. These signs can obviously occur in a variety of combinations, so the diagnosis is often difficult.
How do I protect my dog from Leptospirosis?
In the past, the vaccines that were available covered the common strains of the disease, but in recent years, different strains of Lepto have emerged in Ontario, New York State and Michigan. Two of these strains have now become a serious health concern to dogs and to people.
Over the course of the last few years, a vaccine to protect against these newer strains of Lepto is now available in Canada. The vaccine is recommended by respected veterinary microbiologists, who are not associated with the vaccine manufacturer, which has satisfied our Doctors’ concern regarding its safety and efficacy.
What do the Doctors recommend?
We strongly recommend vaccination against this contagious and potentially deadly disease for most dogs. The initial vaccine can be done at the time of the regular physical examination and vaccines with a booster vaccine 3-4 weeks later. Vaccination in subsequent years is done once yearly, in conjunction with the annual check-up.
For more information on Leptospirosis please click here.
