Dealing with leptospirosis in dogs

Leptospirosis is an important bacterial infection which can cause disease in dogs and is zoonotic. Bivalent vaccination (serogroups Canicola and Icterohaemorrhagiae) had been effective at controlling disease, but leptospirosis appears to be re-emerging worldwide, with additional serovars implicated.Leptospirosis is a differential diagnosis in dogs with acute hepatic and kidney disease, but should also be considered in any acute presentation. Chronic infection and carrier status exist and treatment is aimed at reducing chronic shedding which contributes to environmental contamination.Maintenance and reservoir hosts shed bacteria in their urine without showing clinical signs of disease. The bacteria can persist in renal tubules, thus contributing to environmental contamination and can then remain viable in moist soil or stagnant water for months. Incidental hosts can be infected via direct contact with mucous membranes or damaged skin, or via indirect contact with urine-contaminated soil or surface water.Leptospires commonly affect the kidney and liver but can affect most organs, which results in a wide variety of disease presentations. Leptospiral pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome (LPHS) is an emerging severe form of the infection reported in people and in dogs.1Clinical signs vary from subclinical to severe and acute to chronic. They can be multisystemic and include: