Vets warned of big increase in lepto cases

One of the UK’s biggest referral centres has reported that the number of leptospirosis cases it has treated has more than trebled since the COVID pandemic .

The number of cases of the disease seen by the team at Davies Veterinary Specialists in Hertfordshire has risen to around 12 a year – up from two or three cases per annum before the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

Most of the cases seen are in unvaccinated dogs, but at least two vaccinated dogs have also been treated, prompting clinicians at Davies to raise awareness in order that referring vets have leptospirosis on their differential list.

Katherine Clarke, European Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine at Davies near Hitchin, said: “Most of the dogs we are now seeing are either unvaccinated or dogs who have been vaccinated using the L2 vaccine.

“Worryingly, we have also now seen at least two cases in dogs that have been L4 vaccinated.”

Variable signs

Dogs with leptospirosis can present with variable clinical signs from non-specific fever, lethargy, polyuria, polydipsia, anorexia, gastrointestinal signs, tachypnoea, coughing (due to pulmonary haemorrhage), jaundice and, less commonly, evidence of a coagulopathy (ecchymoses, petechiae, epistaxis, haematuria or melaena).

More specifically, it should be a differential in any dog with an acute kidney, a cholestatic hepatopathy with hyperbilirubinemia, or a combination of both.

Dr Clarke added: “Given the increased incidence of L2 vaccinated dogs contracting leptospirosis, the medicine team at Davies strongly advise use of the quadrivalent vaccine (L4) to protect dogs from as many serovars as possible.”