Leptospirosis is a potentially deadly disease that affects humans and animals. The bacteria can be contracted through the urine of livestock, wildlife, and rodents. This means that pets are susceptible when drinking from puddles or open water, or eating dirty grass and feces.
The illness can cause kidney and liver failure, making it a severe threat especially to small animals. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, increased thirst and urination, fatigue, fever, and blood in the urine.
Although leptospirosis is not a new disease, new strains of it are emerging which make its prevention more difficult. There is controversy among veterinarians about whether or not to administer the available vaccine.
The treatment has a tendency to cause extreme side effects such as diarrhea and vomiting which can become fatal. Not only does it have the possibility of being deadly, the leptospirosis vaccine only kills four out six known strains of the organism.
Other veterinarians see leptospirosis as a real danger to pets and their owners, witnessing the disease multiple times per month in a busy practice. These vets recommend the lepto vaccine to all dogs with exception to those who rarely go outside.
The belief is that the benefit of prevention outweighs the risk of contracting the horrible sickness. Another reason to diligently inhibit the disease is because it is zoonotic, meaning is passes from animals to humans and therefore can spread from pets to owners.
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