Leptospirosis in dogs and vets

Earlier this fall, Mark J. Acierno, DVM, MBA, DACVIM, sat down with dvm360 during dvm360's Fetch Coastal conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to talk about his lecture “Leptospirosis: Current Recommendations and What is the Risk to Veterinary Professionals.” During the interview, Acierno shared topics covered in his lecture as well as debunked the myth that only outdoor dogs in rural areas should be vaccinated for leptospirosis. He explained that small dogs in urban environments are at equal or greater risk of contracting the disease as their rural counterparts.

In the interview, Acierno also explained that some veterinarians have contracted the infection without realizing it, as most dogs with leptospirosis do not exhibit any signs.

Below is a partial transcript

Mark J. Acierno, DVM, MBA, DACVIM: …We go on and we also talk about the risk to the veterinary professional. For example, at one [American Veterinary Medical Association] meeting, they found that a percentage of veterinarians had actually been seropositive for leptospirosis since they were exposed, probably from one of their patients. And interestingly, none of the people who tested positive thought that they had dealt with a dog with leptospirosis. …They had seen a dog with flu-like symptoms, and then shortly thereafter, these veterinarians got headaches, but they didn't realize that the patient had [leptospirosis] and that they had contracted it from their patient. And part of that is, is that when we look at dogs that are experimentally and even naturally infected with leptospirosis, you know, we think about the liver disease and the kidney disease and some of the other things that we see, like anemia and thrombocytopenia.

But in reality, most dogs that are exposed to leptospirosis and are shedding it, don't really have many signs at all. They often are described as having flu-like symptoms. And so, we need to kind of broaden our perception of who we should be suspecting of having leptospirosis.