SIDEBAR: What to do if your dog has Leptospirosis

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Source: Dr. Kenneth Harkin, 785-532-5690
News release prepared by: Cheryl May, 785-532-6415, may@k-state.edu

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

SIDEBAR: WHAT TO DO IF YOUR DOG HAS LEPTOSPIROSIS

MANHATTAN -- If your dog is infected with leptospirosis, it is important to prevent infection of other dogs and to protect yourself. Lepto is a zoonotic disease -- one that can be passed from dog to human through contact with contaminated urine.

Dr. Kenneth Harkin, a veterinarian at Kansas State University and an expert on the disease, has the following recommendations:

* Have your other dogs tested to see if they have been exposed.

* Ask your veterinarian if other dogs in your home should be given doxycycline or other antibiotics for a week or more as a preventive.

* Protect yourself from contact with urine. Wear eye protection, disposable latex gloves and consider a surgical mask while cleaning up urine. Cleaning with a household bleach solution will kill the lepto bacteria.

* If you develop flu symptoms, tell your doctor that your dog has lepto so that you can get antibiotics as a precaution.

* When bathing your dog, soap the dog before adding water. The soap will kill the lepto bacteria, and prevent the water from turning the bacteria into an aerosol that could infect you.

* Keep your dog away from other dogs until your veterinarian says it is safe.