Old dog disease resurfaced in North Texas

Oh great!

I've heard of some people in the WI/IL area being warned of an increase in lepto outbreaks too.  Usually in sporting dogs who are out in the field where they could be exposed.

Oh wonderful, something else to worry about!  Thanks for the info.

I don't understand why they are calling it an "old" disease or one that was thought to be eradicated, unless they are speaking specifically about Texas.  Lepto is and has been around in varying degrees in different areas of the country for as long as I can remember.  A few years ago when I was researching possible boarding facilities in New Jersey, several of them required a Lepto vac.  Many Vets in my area routinely include the Lepto vac as part of their big combo shots...which is not necessarily a good thing.   
 
From everything I've heard and read, the Lepto vaccination is high on the list for causing serious adverse reactions, especially in small breeds.   I can remember my oldest dog's breeder specifically telling me nine years ago to NOT give the Lepto vac because it was known to cause so many problems in my breed. 
 
 I'm not saying that dogs should never receive the vaccination.  If it's really prevelent in an area, then it might be a wise choice.  But as is the case with everything else, you really have to research all the angles and make an informed decision based on the risk of exposure and seriousness of the disease vs the risk of a possible reaction in your particular dog. 
 
 

Phew! I checked Maisie's vacc. records and she's had the lepto. vacc. Thanks alot for that article...I'm not too terribly far from Fort Worth..

That's really kinda scary. Daisy almost went into a seizure after getting the lepto shot so she can't have them. This kinda freaks me out a little.

Anybody know if it is carried by wild mice/rats or can it be by pet rodents too? Because my room-mate has rats and sometimes they're not very clean animals.

Well, if you really want to worry about it...humans can get Lepto too.   [linkhttp://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/leptospirosis_g_pet.htm]http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/leptospirosis_g_pet.htm[/link] [linkhttp://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic856.htm]http://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic856.htm[/link]

I hope it doesn't make it to CO... I was also advised by my breeder to steer clear of the lepto vaccine because it can cause bad reaction in a lot of breeds, including corgis... And at Alameda, they don't even advise that strongly that you get it because it's very uncommon here and they confirmed it really does cause bad reactions... >o.o;<

Risk of lepto can also be in recently converted land that previously had cattle on it.  MI has had pockets of infection recently.  I have been paying attention to lepto titre information on my dogs since they are involved in herding and are often ag areas with cattle.