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 CANINE
LEPTOSPIROSIS UPDATE 
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LEPTOSPIROSIS
is a bacterial disease that is carried by common wildlife and rodents.
This disease causes high fever, jaundice, vomiting, and in severe cases,
fatal liver and kidney damage. Current vaccines against canine
leptospirosis have been available for many years and offer protection
against two different strains of the disease. However, recent
research has shown that other strains of leptospirosis have emerged.
because leptospiral vaccines are strain-specific, current vaccines are
not able to protect against these newer strains.
Fortunately, a new vaccine has been
introduced that offers dogs protection against the older strains of
leptospirosis and two additional strains, L. grippotyphosa and L.
pomona. We are now using this vaccine at our hospital to
protect your dog from this re-emerging disease. Canine
Leptospirosis is a dangerous threat to dogs, and we are now recommenting
this new vaccine for our canine patients.
The vaccine is given in a two-dose
series. Your dog will receive an initial dose of vaccine followed
by a booster given two to three weeks after the first. After the
initial series, the vaccine will be given as part of your dogs routine
vaccinations.
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It's Heartworm testing and
preventative time!
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If your dog or cat has not
had a heartworm test this year, please make an appointment
with your veterinarian
today!!!
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The Heartworm Story
The first published description of heartworm in dogs appeared more than
100 years ago in an issue of "The Western Journal of Medicine and
Surgery."1
Heartworm in cats was first described in the early 1920's.2,
3
Since then, naturally acquired heartworm infection in cats and dogs is
identified as a worldwide clinical problem. Despite improved diagnostic
methods, effective preventives and increasing awareness among veterinary
professionals and pet owners, cases of heartworm infection continue to
appear in pet dogs around the world. The diagnosis of the disease is
still complex and elusive in cats.
1
Osborne, TC. Worms found in the Heart and Blood vessels of a Dog;
Symptoms of Hydrophobia. The Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery,
1847.
2
Riley, WA. Dirofilaria immitis in the heart of a cat. J Parasitol
1922;9:48
3
Travassos, LP. Notas Helminthologicas. Brazil-Med. An. 1921;35 2(6):67
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What do we know about it?
Heartworm disease is
a serious and potentially fatal condition caused by parasitic worms
living in the arteries of the lungs and in the right side of the heart
of dogs, cats and other species of mammals, including wolves, foxes,
ferrets, sea lions and (in rare instances) humans. Heartworms are
classified as nematodes (roundworms) and are but one of many species of
roundworms. The specific roundworm causing heartworm in dogs and cats is
known as
Dirofilaria immitis. |
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Adult
female heartworms, that may grow to be 14-inches long, living within the
infected animal's body release their young, called microfilariae
(pronounced:
micro fil ar ee),
into their host's bloodstream. The mosquitoes become infected with these
microscopic worms after biting into an infected adult animal for a blood
meal. During the next 10 to 14 days, the microfilariae mature to the
infective larval stage within the mosquito. When the mosquito bites
another host (dog, cat or other susceptible animal), the infective
larvae enters a new host through the bite wound. It then takes a little
over six months for the infective larvae to mature into adult worms that
may live for five to seven years (in a dog).
The
microfilaria cannot mature into adult heartworms without first passing
through a mosquito.
Dogs
or other animals harboring adult worms are the recognized reservoir of
infection. Adult worms produce the offspring that circulate in the
blood, and are then transmitted to mosquitoes once they bite the
infected animal. These offspring (microfilariae) undergo development to
an infective larval stage within 14 days in the mosquito, and can then
be transmitted to another host (such as a cat) or back to another dog,
when the infected mosquito bites again. The infective heartworm larvae
travel through a tubular organ within the mosquito's head and are
injected into the skin of a new host animal through the mosquito bite
wound. In the dog, the larvae progress in their development to an adult
form of the worm, and live in the heart and pulmonary vessels, where
they continue the life cycle and cause extensive injury. In the cat, the
larvae molt as well, but fewer worms survive to adulthood. While dogs
suffer severe heart and lung damage from heartworm infection, cats
typically exhibit minimal changes in the heart. The cat's primary
response to the presence of heartworms occurs in the lungs.
Within
the dog, the time frame between initial infection and growth to adult
worms is approximately six to seven months, eventually arriving in the
heart and pulmonary vessels where they begin to produce new offspring.
This period is referred to as patency. In cats, it takes seven to eight
months before adult worms arrive in the heart and pulmonary vessels, and
this is referred to as transient patency. In most cases the life cycle
of the heartworm ends here since microfilaria are produced in less than
20% of the cats. |
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