Pet Page
September 2009
To Lepto or Not to Lepto
To paraphrase Shakespeare's Hamlet, “to lepto or not to lepto, that is
the question”. Lepto is an abbreviation. It’s used by veterinarians to
refer to the contagious and infectious disease, known as leptospirosis
(lep-to-spir-OH-sis). Lepto is a bacteria. When examined with an
electron microscope, the bacteria resemble a corkscrew. It’s in the
same group of similar corkscrew shaped bacteria that cause better
known diseases such as syphilis and Lyme disease. Lepto is a
hazard for our canine pets. It can make them very sick and is
sometimes fatal. It usually attacks the liver or kidneys or both. It does
respond to treatment if diagnosed and treated early.
Leptospirosis is a zoonotic ( zoh-oh-NOT-tic) disease. That is to say,
it’s contagious to humans from animals, such as dogs. In other
words, if our dog contracts this mysterious illness, we can catch it
from the dog. Some experts say that lepto is the most widespread
zoonotic disease in the world.
The principle route of exposure involves urine. The dog catches lepto
from urine and spreads it to us via urine. There are other means of
exposure, but for the purpose of this article we’ll just talk about
exposure via urine. There are two groups of animals whose urine
contains the contagious lepto bacteria, farm animals and wild
animals. By farm animals, I mean pigs, horses, cows, sheep and
goats. By wild animals I mean raccoons, skunks, opossums, rats and
many other common Florida creatures. If any of the animals in either
group urinates, in or near water, then the lepto organisms will survive
and persist in that environment. Lepto is most persistent in warm,
humid regions, such as Florida. Now all that’s necessary for
practically any warm blooded domestic animal, such as our pet dog,
to contract the illness, is to bathe or swim or drink the water
contaminated with the urine that contains the lepto. That means that
any dog that takes a drink from any pond, puddle, swale, ditch, lake
or river, could be exposed to lepto. Likewise, drinking from the
swimming pool or the water bowl are unlikely ways to become
infected.
The principle signs of leptospirosis infection in dogs are vague. The
signs usually involve lethargy and anorexia. In other words, the
affected pet just lies around and won’t eat. Often there is vomiting.
The illness may not manifest itself for days or weeks after ingesting
the contaminated water.
There are good tests to diagnose the disease if the doctor keeps it in
mind as a possible cause of the dog’s illness and if the client’s budget
allows the extra tests to be performed. Almost every vet has
diagnosed a dog with lepto. Most vets have seen more than one
case. If you multiply that by the number of vets it’s easy to appreciate
there are hundreds of cases of lepto reported in dogs in Florida.
There are good vaccines available to protect dogs. There are,
however, some drawbacks to vaccinating. The least effective
vaccines are the ones that combine the lepto with other vaccines
such as distemper and parvo. These vaccines usually appear on the
receipt or record as a group of initials, such as DHLP-P or DALPP.
The most effective lepto protection comes from vaccines that contain
four serovars, or four different types of lepto protection. Currently
these vaccines are only available from Pfizer or Ft. Dodge.
Why not vaccinate every dog for lepto? Well, some vets do, but there
are some drawbacks. The vaccine is an additional expense. The
vaccine doesn’t cause many reactions, but in my experience it
causes more reactions than any of the other vaccines, especially in
small dogs. This is unfortunate as nearly forty percent of the allcanine lepto cases occur in dogs less than 25 pounds. It may not
protect for a full year, so excellent protection may take twice a year
shots. And like any other vaccine, just because you vaccinate, it’s not
a guarantee you pet won’t get the illness. So, the appropriate thing to
do is ask your veterinarian whether to vaccinate your dog for
leptospirosis or not.