Leptospirosis
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Challenges:
Increasing incidence
Emerging Strains
Potential Transmission to People
Traditional Vaccines not protective
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- The number of canine
leptospirosis cases has risen
dramatically in recent years,
impacting both urban
and rural dogs
- Leptospirosis in now the #1
infectious cause of acute
kidney failure in dogs, and
may pose a health risk to
owners
- Most lepto cases are now
caused by cattle strains
grippotyphosa and pomona.
- Traditional lepto vaccines
protect from the dog strains
and not from the emerging
cattle strains
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Risk Assessment Questions
- Are there raccoons, rats,
skunks, opossums in the area?
- Does dog drink from puddles,
ponds, drainage ditches and
other water sources?
- Does the dog interact with
livestock?
- Does your dog go on the
dog park?
- Does you dog go for a walk
on the bike path
- Does dog live in area that
has recently changed from
rural to urban?
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Leptospirosis is caused by a filamentous, motile spirochete that infects most wild and domestic animals including humans. Several serovars infect dogs and cats, but clinical disease occurs only in dogs.
| Infection world wide, especially in warm wet climates. Standing water and neutral to slightly alkaline soil promote presence in the environment. Leptospirosis is spread by recovered animals that shed organisms in their urine for months to years following infection. Exposure usually occurs by mucus membrane (mouth) contact with Leptospires in the environment (contaminated water, food, bedding, soil, and vegetation and urine). Leptospires penetrate mucosa or abraded skin. Wild animals and rodent (rats, raccoons, opossums, skunks, mice, fox, coyote) populations are reservoirs for leptospirosis. |
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Leptospira targets to kidneys and liver causing Liver and Kidney failure. Death follows shortly.
Historically, the Leptospira interrogans serovars icterohaemorrhagiae and canicola caused the majority of illness in dogs with liver and kidney failure. The incidence of leptospirosis decreased in the 1970's with the introduction of a two strain vaccine. It stayed low in the '80's and '90's and rebounded in the 2000's with the emergence of two cattle strains, pomona and grippotyphosa. |
We have had Dogs from within the Woodlands
Die from Leptospirosis (since the year 2000)
| Prevention includes vaccination for dogs at risk and preventing access to contaminated areas. It is possible that some dogs may recover from the acute disease and act as persistent carriers, shedding infective organisms in their urine (contagious to humans). Dogs should be protected against not only the traditional serovars icterohaemorrhagiaeand canicola, but also against the emerging threat of the two cattle serovars, pomona andgrippotyphosa. |
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Vaccination Schedule
The first Leptospirosis Vaccine is given, the second Lepto Vaccine is given 2-3 weeks later. Puppies get a boosters at six months, and 12 months later then annual after that. Adult dogs get a booster every year.
If you have had the old Leptospirosis (dog 2-strain) Vaccine, you will still have to start all over again build immunity to the two cattle strain (and dog 2-strain) Leptospirosis |
