![]() It’s a serious condition causing a range of symptoms from flu-like illness progressing to kidney and liver failure. Weil’s disease is the human form of leptospirosis. It’s impossible to ‘risk assess’ a dog’s lifestyle and guarantee they’ll never come into contact with lepto. Both city-dwelling and country rats carry lepto therefore dogs can contract it wherever they live. Animals contract leptospirosis by swimming in, and drinking, contaminated water or through open skin wounds. Leptospirosis affects most mammalian species (humans included!) Infected animals (particularly rats) contaminate fresh water sources (e.g. Vaccination prevents dogs from becoming seriously ill in the first place. During this time, lepto can rapidly progress causing serious illness and, sadly, even death. External laboratories take time to process and run tests which leads to an unavoidable delay in treatment. The symptoms of leptospirosis can be vague and resemble those seen with many other diseases. Leptospirosis is a relatively rare disease and, if diagnosed early, is treatable. Is vaccination against leptospirosis even necessary? The VMD’s data doesn’t distinguish between serious and non-serious reactions. It’s worth pointing out that any vaccine can cause a range of reactions, the majority of which are non-serious. For every 10 000 doses of lepto vaccine given, the VMD receives reports of fewer than two dogs reacting to the L2 vaccine and fewer than seven reacting to the L4 vaccine. Their data shows that the risk of dogs reacting adversely to either the L2 or L4 vaccine is actually rare. The VMD (Veterinary Medicines Directorate) is the government agency responsible for monitoring the safety of all animal vaccines and medications used in the UK. As a result, some owners either don’t vaccinate their dogs against lepto at all, or opt to give the L2 version. ![]() Why do some dog owners leave it out?ĭoubts over the lepto vaccine’s safety arose after inaccurate reports of post-L4 vaccination illness were widely publicised in the press. These ‘L4’ vaccines supersede the two-strain (L2) version which have been used in the UK for over 50 years. Vaccines are now available to protect dogs against all four major strains of lepto present in the UK or common in Europe Canicola, Icterohaemorrhagiae, Australis and Gryippotyphosa. ![]() This also protects against distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza. Most UK vets advise routinely vaccinating dogs against leptospirosis (commonly called lepto) as part of their yearly booster injection. This is one of the most divisive subjects to stir debate within the dog world in recent years. ![]()
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