LEPTOSPIROSIS IN DOGS

Leptospirosis, a zoonoticdisease, commonly infects dogs as well as other domestic ani­mals.  In the past, the serovars most frequently asso­ciated with disease in dogs were L.canico1 a and L.icterohaemorrhagiae and vaccines containing these serovars have been approved for use in dogs for a number of years.  Lep-tospirosis continues to be diagnosed, however, in the ca­nine population. In many in­stances, isolation and/or sero-logic testing have demonstrated infection with serovars not included in the canine approved vaccines.  At the Purdue Uni­versity Small Animal Hospital, 5 to 10 diagnosed cases of lep-tospirosis had serologic evi­dence of infection with L. grippotyphosa.  Recently, L. bratislava has been isolated from dogs with renal disease. Investigators found a high prevalence of L. pomona infec­tion associated with renal or hepatic disease in Canadian dogs.  Recent diagnoses of lep-tospirosis in dogs at ADDL (based on silver stained biopsy tissues or fluorescent antibody tests) included dogs with acute renal failure and stillborn puppies.  Serologic testing can be used to confirm the diagnosis and identify the infecting serovar.  Serovar identifica­tion may help to identify sources of exposure, thereby limiting spread of the disease. Serologic tests should be per­formed for all six available serovars, not just for L.icterohaemorrhagiae and L.cani-cola.since infection with oth­er serovars are potential path­ogens in dogs.  Finally, in cases of suspected or diagnosed 1eptospirosis, proper precau­tions should be employed to minimize the chance for human infection.

Judith Nielsen,D.V.M. Veterinary Diagnostician