Leptospirosis (Lepto) is a severe bacterial infection that is zoonotic, so it can pass from animals to humans and is spread through urine, so contaminated water can contain this disease until frozen. It attacks the kidney and liver of the infected animal and causes kidney and liver to partially shut down and not function well. Even after the disease is killed off in the body there can be permanent scarring in both the liver and kidneys that will cause them to permanently work at less than optimum. I work at Banfield Pet Hospital and at our clinic lepto vaccine is part of our core vaccines, but most other clinics don’t give the lepto vaccine regularly because it is not a common disease.
There are cases every year of it though, recently my friend’s puppy, who they have not let in public parks or near standing water, got lepto. The way he would have contracted the disease is if an infected rodent urinated in their yard and the puppy licked the grass or his paws after stepping in the infected grass. The puppy had to be hospitalized for several days, each day costing around $500, until he was stable enough to go home and there were no concerns about kidney and liver functioning properly.
In 2010 and small animal veterinarian caught Lepto after working with a pet rat who appeared healthy (Bear). The vet was in the hospital for 10 days and could only return to work part time after 1 month (Bear).
With such a potentially serious and deadly disease should vaccinations be required? Rabies is currently required by law for all pets because Rabies is such a big potential threat to humans, and due to vaccination there has not been a case of rabies in domestic dogs in over 30 years. Not only is the Lepto dangerous to the dogs, but also to humans. An interesting side note is that cats are largely resistant to Leptospirosis, supposedly from their long contact with the rodents that spread it. The reason it isn’t required is because there is always the potential for an allergic reaction to the vaccine, and since it isn’t a commonly reported disease a lot of people don’t recommend getting the vaccine. Zoonotic diseases are always interesting and potential for controversy.
Bear, R. Turnber, W. Yu, D. Wohrle, R. Leptospirosis in a Small Animal Veterinarian. Zoonoses & Public Health; Jun2010, Vol. 57 Issue 4, p281-284, 4p.
I think that for sure people should vaccinate their animals for lepto. There are several illnesses that our pets can pass to us and make us very sick with lepto and rabies as a couple of these. Being able to infect us, makes this a public health concern with the possibility to infect tons of people and animals. Any vaccination you give has the potential to induce an allergic reaction including the one required for rabies, in severe cases this can result in death but is not common. I think that it is the veterinarians job to recommend these vaccinations but also to inform clients about the potential risks of the infection and the signs they should look for so they know if they need to bring them back in. As veterinarians, there are ways to combat these reactions so that they can be perfectly fine if caught in time by informed clients. Many people with children have dogs for pets, as with most things, children and the elderly are more susceptible to infection from lepto. Getting your dog vaccinated is not only saving your dog, it is saving yourself and your family from possible getting very ill.
ReplyDeleteLepto is becoming increasingly popular in the United States. At first, high incidents of lepto were only common for dogs living in rural areas but now urban and many other areas are seeing the transmission of this disease. Many animals carry the spirochete bacterium which causes the disease including pigs, raccoons, rats, and even horses. I feel when the public is informed on diseases in animals, such as lepto, we should take all precautions to control the disease so it does not become an epidemic among the human population. There are many cases of veterinarians contracting lepto from a patient because they were unaware the dog carried the disease. I feel the lepto vaccine should be mandatory in order to avoid possible future health risks.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that people should vaccinate their pet's for lepto because not only can it affect dogs but other animals like cattle, pigs or horses. According to an article I read, lepto is one of the most globally widespread zoonotic diseases. The Wold Health Organization as well as the United States Center of Disease Center have named lepto to be a reemerging infectious disease, although incidence of this disease is higher in developing countries.
ReplyDeleteA study done in the years of 1999-2008 indicated that Hawaii reported 345 cases of people infected with letpo. Many of these people experienced abnormal liver enzymatic activity, fever, nausea, diarrhea as well as abnormal urinary results including an elevated blood urea nitrogen. According to the CDC, lepto can compromise the immune system which can then lead to other opportunistic pathogens that can cause diseases such as meningitis.
Therefore it is important to not only get your dog vaccinated, it is important to get other pets vaccinated because lepto can be life-threatening disease for you and your pet.
Katz, A. R., Buchholz, A. E., Hinson, K., Park, S. Y., & Effier, P. V. (2011). Leptospirosis in Hawaii, USA, 1999-2008. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 17(2), 221-226.
doi:10.3201/eid1412.080470
http://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/pets/index.html
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ReplyDeleteAccording to the World Health Organization, Leptospirosis is a zoonotic organism, and is endemic is humid, tropical environments. While, yes, Leptospirosis is capable of spreading to humans,it often presents a broad spectrum of symptoms. Leptospirosis is treated with antibiotics in humans, and no resistance has been reported. While cats and rodents serve as a reservoir for the organism, monitoring these animals as a prevention mechanism is often unrealistic. The best method of prevention for humans is still the use of personal protective equipment (gloves, gowns, hand washing) and disinfection of surfaces after animal contact.
ReplyDeleteI believe because transmission to humans is not very common, the vaccination of your pet should remain optional. While pets are important too, and vaccination of your pet may save you money and heartbreak in the long run, Leptospirosis is not dangerous to humans to the same degree as diseases such as Rabies. Rabies is a required vaccine because when humans are infected, treatment is often ineffective, especially if the human subject begins to show symptoms of infection. Perhaps over time, if Leptospirosis becomes resistant to antibiotic treatment, it will be worth reconsidering. But for the time being, treatment is relatively simple and required vaccinations would be overkill.
Leptospirosis. World Health Organization. http://www.who.int/zoonoses/diseases/Leptospirosissurveillance.pdf