Yesterday the Orlando Sentinel had a good article regarding a recent increase in the rate of infection of leptospirosis in dogs over the last few years. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that can infect our family pets as well as us. At CVH we generally recommend all pets that are at risk be vaccinated. Leptospirosis is not part of our common core vaccines for a general house dog at CVH. In the eleven years I have been in practice we have not diagnosed a case of leptospirosis in a dog in Conway but we have had two confirmed cases from the Lake Nona and Lake Mary Jane area. So what are my recommendations? If you live on the lake and have a dog that loves to go in the water then you should vaccinate. If you and your pets hike, camp, or spend a lot of time in areas where wildlife is common then you should vaccinate. If you travel or are planning to travel to the Midwestern United States (Corn and Grain Belt States) then vaccinate your pets before you go. Now not all leptospirosis vaccines are the same. I recommend your pet be vaccinated with the a four way Leptospirosis vaccine. The one I prefer is made by Boehringer Ingelheim and is called the Leptovax 4. It protects against the four most common variants or serovars of lepto bacteria seen in the United States and more specifically Florida. At CVH we do not charge an office visit if you pet is coming in only for the leptospirosis vaccine because I believe it is very important to give it by itself to minimize the risk of allergic reaction secondary to the vaccine. I also recommend all dogs be pretreated with Benadryl prior to the vaccine being given. The standard protocol for vaccination is a single vaccine followed four weeks later by a second booster vaccine. I do not recommend giving the vaccine until puppies are at least 14 weeks of age. If you have questions feel free to email me at or call my office and we will be happy to discuss the vaccine protocol and disease with you. We also will be happy to mail you some information of leptospirosis for you to review. Thanks.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 13:14:07 +0000
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