Mill Road Vet Hospital / Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Is your dog up-to-date with its Lepto vaccinations?

We have recently had a dog hospitalized at the clinic with Leptospirosis.

Lepto is a serious, often fatal disease that dogs catch from rats. Treatment requires intensive hospital care, which is made more difficult by the fact that humans can catch the disease from infected dog’s urine or blood. The vets and vet nurses involved in the patient’s care need to wear full protective gear to avoid infection.

The dog has recovered from the acute phase of the disease now and has gone home to recover, but he is still suffering from liver and kidney disease as a result of the infection.

Treatment of Lepto is difficult and costly, as well as being very stressful for all involved, due to the infectious nature of the disease, yet it is so easily prevented by vaccinating! Please check that your dogs are up-to-date with their Lepto vaccinations.

For more information on the symptoms and prevention of Lepto, please read on:

Leptospirosis (Lepto)

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease of worldwide significance that infects both humans and most animals, including livestock (cattle, sheep and pigs) and wildlife (deer, rats and other rodents).

Leptospirosis is contagious and is most commonly spread via the urine, where bacteria can be excreted in large numbers. The strain of Lepto that causes most of the disease we see in dogs is spread by the Brown Rat.

In New Zealand most of the dogs diagnosed with Lepto live in the northern half of the North Island.

Leptospirosis is a potential “Zoonosis”, which means that the disease can be transmitted from animals to people, usually via urine. This is most common in farmers and freezing workers after they have been infected from pigs or cattle, but we can also contract the disease from infected dogs.

Disease

Severe illness can rapidly result in death with only a few signs such as lethargy, muscle tenderness and shivering being shown. More commonly infection results in some or all of the following symptoms:

Loss of appetite
Vomiting +/- diarrhoea
Fever
Increased thirst
Abdominal pain
Dehydration
Weakness
Depression & lethargy
Jaundice, marked by a yellow colour in the gums and whites of the eyes.

Treatment

The sooner the disease is diagnosed and treated the better the likely outcome for the dog. As the body fights the infection, the organism is cleared from most organs, but they may persist in the kidneys and be shed for weeks or months in the urine. After 7 or 8 days of infection, the animal will begin to recover, if the damage to the kidneys or liver is not too severe. Aggressive treatment with a combination of intravenous fluids and antibiotics, and supportive care in hospital may save some dogs, but sadly death as a result of Leptospirosis is not uncommon. Additionally, some dogs that recover are left with longterm liver or kidney damage.

One of the biggest challenges in treating these dogs is the potential for vets and vet nurses handling the patient contracting the disease.

Prevention

Leptospirosis is prevalent in rural, suburban and urban areas. Young dogs are usually more severely affected, but it is more common in mature dogs as their roaming and outdoor activity is more likely to put them in contact with Brown Rats.

The bacteria can also be present in any stagnant surface water, moist soil and recreational water sources such as ponds and lakes and dogs can become infected with Leptospirosis by drinking, swimming in or walking through contaminated water. Exposure risk increases during the summer and early autumn months, and other periods of high rainfall.

While the disease is rarely fatal in humans, it can cause severe illness. You may reduce disease risk by undertaking the following preventative measures:

Vaccinate dogs and livestock
Avoid water that might be contaminated with the bacteria, especially water that is stagnant
Practice good sanitation, including washing your and your children’s hands – especially when handling anything that might have a dog’s urine on it

We strongly urge protecting dogs from Leptospirosis through vaccination. We recommend vaccinating for lepto as part of the routine puppy vaccination course at 12 and 16 weeks of age. Annual boosters are required thereafter for life to ensure best possible protection.