The following is a reprint from Revival Animal Health’s Dr. B. We wanted to share this information with everyone since most of us have or are looking for a stock dog. Stock dogs typically are out working, hiking or playing more than most breeds. Because of that they are often exposed to Lepto. Don’t over look this vaccine in your program for your Toy or Mini Aussie.

Leptospirosis is a spiral bacterium that can infect animals and sometimes humans. Animals with Lepto shed live bacteria in their urine. Most Lepto infections come from contact with water that is contaminated with infected urine. Wild animals, such as raccoons and rodents, can be carriers of the disease – infected and shedding the bacteria, but not showing clinical signs.

Dogs are generally vaccinated for Leptospirosis once a year with a combination vaccine. In the past 10 years, many have recommended not using Lepto vaccines in adult breeding dogs, but this has led to a population of animals with no Lepto protection. When you’re deciding if a Lepto vaccination is appropriate for your dogs, you should evaluate the value of protection against the risk of disease. Prevention against Lepto is important for your kennel; however, the Lepto vaccine is more reactive and does increase the risk of reactions to the vaccination.

In a kennel, Lepto is not often noticed or diagnosed right away unless you are looking for solutions to puppy death – one or two puppies that are stillborn or that die shortly after birth usually aren’t sent for diagnostics. When these losses happen in first or second time mothers, Lepto may be causing the issue. Older mothers don’t often lose these puppies, likely because these mothers get enough natural immunity from infection, preventing loss in later litters.

Lepto abortion storms, where bitches loose whole litters at once, have happened more frequently this year. Since kennels have abandoned vaccination in the past ten years, females in the kennel have never had a Lepto vaccine. These abortions affect all females (old or young), and they’ll abort their entire litter in late gestation – the last 14 days of pregnancy. The issue is we usually have several females bred, and they will all abort if we do not get the immunity up and quickly. Vaccinating the whole kennel to attain herd immunity will shut the issue down, but not before there are major losses of puppies.

Diagnosis of Lepto is usually based on clinical signs. Culturing Lepto bacteria is difficult and often unsuccessful, though new techniques have improved results. Leptospirosis targets the kidney, liver and blood vessels, so acute infections can cause kidney failure, vomiting, dehydration, bleeding and jaundice. Titers on mothers after abortion can be diagnostic – if they have a titer and they are not vaccinated, you have the cause.

Treatment of Leptospirosis involves IV fluids, antibiotics such as Penicillins or Doxycycline, and occasionally blood transfusions. Animals with low levels of the organism still carry and shed Leptospira without clinical disease. These carrier infections are difficult to identify. Treatment is important to prevent carriers, even if it looks like the animal has recovered. Infected carriers are a constant source of infection to other females.

Prevention against Lepto is similar to prevention of fleas and ticks. Limit the brush and tall grass around the kennel and put a fence around the perimeter to discourage wildlife. Contaminated standing water is the main source of spread, so kennel designs need to be sloped to limit the amount of standing water. Raised decks are also helpful for keeping dogs off of the wet ground. Lepto thrives in wet, moist environments but has a short life in dry, arid locations, so keep this in mind as you determine the best approach for preventing Lepto in your kennel. Vaccination against Lepto is also an important tool for preventing puppy loss in maiden females.

Dr. B