Your dog can get lepto from your backyard or anywhere else in the yard if the soil is infected with the lepto from urine from infected animals.
To get lepto out of your yard you can spray diluted bleach in areas where the lepto may be and where the dog or cats or other animals have been around.
Dilute some bleach in water in a sprayer and spray the yard every few days or so to kill off the Lepto and you can spray areas in your house with diluted bleach as well to kill lepto.
Humans and dogs and other animals can become infected with leptospirosis through contact with the animal urine that is infected.
Leptospirosis occurs most commonly during late summer or early fall and during rainy season in tropical climates.
You can become infected with leptospirosis if you come into contact with and touch fresh water, soil or other objects which are contaminated with the infected animal urine.
The most common ways of getting infected with leptospirosis is through urine or contaminated water getting into the eyes, nose, mouth or broken skin such as through a scratch or cut.
Leptospirosis is transmitted through the urine of infected animals which can also contaminate moist soil or water for weeks and months.
The infection of leptospirosis in humans and animals occurs through the contact with the infected urine or through contaminated water or contaminated soil.
Leptospirosis is most common in the US in the eastern, midwestern and southwestern regions of the United States.
Leptospirosis is also very common in Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
The gold standard test for leptospirosis is a microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) which are two serologic tests used for laboratory diagnosis of leptospirosis.
To rule out leptospirosis your doctor will do blood tests and urine tests and also ask you about your travel history and see if you may have come into contact with the leptospirosis infection.
The symptoms of leptospirosis in humans are high fever, headache, bleeding, muscle pain, chills, red eyes, and vomiting.
Without treatment, leptospirosis can lead to kidney and liver damage and even death.
Leptospirosis does have long term effects which can occur in some people which include possible kidney failure, jaundice or yellowing of the eye balls and skin that indicates liver disease and bleeding and even respiratory complications.
A leptospirosis rash will look like a small red, purple or brown spot rash that can involve the palate and if present the rash often lasts less than 24 hours.
Later in severe leptospirosis disease jaundice and even extensive purpura can develop.
Conditions that can be mistaken for leptospirosis include influenza, dengue and dengue hemorrhagic fever, hanta virus infection, yellow fever and other viral hemorrhagic fevers, rickettsiosis, borreliosis, brucellosis, malaria, pyelonephritis, aseptic meningitis and chemical poisoning.
Leptospirosis is confirmed through blood tests and urine tests and sometimes chest X rays and CT scans.
Things you can do to prevent leptospirosis include.
Avoid touching fresh water or soil that may be contaminated with animal urine.
Avoid touching objects that may be contaminated with animal urine, such as animal bedding.
Don't wade, swim, or put your head in floodwaters or water from lakes, rivers, or swamps.
A blood test as well as a urine test can detect leptospirosis.
To diagnose leptospirosis your doctor will do a physical exam, blood test and urine test and will ask about your symptoms as well as your travel history and whether you may have been in contact with anything contaminated with leptospirosis.
And you may also have a chest X ray or CT scan.
The symptoms of leptospirosis are high fever, headache, bleeding, muscle pain, chills, red eyes and vomiting.
The stages of leptospirosis are the septicemic (acute) phase and the immune (delayed) phase.
In icteric leptospirosis, the 2 phases of the illness are often continuous and indistinguishable.
But at disease onset, clinically predicting the severity of disease is not possible.
You are most likely to catch leptospirosis in places such as tropical and sub tropical areas that have high rainfall.
Outbreaks of leptospirosis usually occur following periods of heavy rain or flooding although it can occur anytime and anywhere.
Leptospirosis is transmitted to humans through coming into contact with infected animal urine and then touching your eyes, nose, mouth or through a cut or other broken skin.
You can also become infected with leptospirosis by touching fresh water, soil or other objects that have been contaminated and infected with animal urine.
The first signs of leptospirosis are stomach pain, red eyes, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), vomiting or nausea, body and or muscle aches, chills, headaches and fever.
Leptospirosis is an illness and infectious disorder in animals and humans and is the most common zoonotic infection in the world.
The Leptospirosis infection is easily transmitted from infected animals through their urine, either directly or through infected soil or water.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease spread through the urine of infected animals.
Humans can get leptospirosis from animals including dogs through direct contact with urine from infected animals or through water, soil, or food contaminated with their urine. It's most common in warm climates.
High fever, headache, bleeding, muscle pain, chills, red eyes, and vomiting are some leptospirosis symptoms.
Without treatment, leptospirosis can lead to kidney and liver damage and even death.
Antibiotics can clear the leptospirosis infection.
For dogs, the midwestern, eastern, and southwestern regions of the United States are considered hotspots of the leptospirosis infection.
All dogs are at risk of leptospirosis, regardless of the dogs age, breed, lifestyle, geographic location, time of year, and other factors.
Most cases of leptospirosis have either no symptoms or have very mild symptoms that go away on their own.
Only about 1% of people with leptospirosis get severely ill with Weil's syndrome.
Weil's syndrome is often deadly if not treated or if you delay treatment.
Some people can also develop long lasting effects following leptospirosis infection.
Some people with leptospirosis go on to develop severe disease.
This can include kidney failure, jaundice (yellow coloration of the skin and eye balls which indicates liver disease), and bleeding and respiratory complications.
Leptospirosis is most common in tropical climates.
On average, 100-150 cases of human illness are reported annually in the United States.
People who work outdoors or with animals or those involved in freshwater activities may be at increased risk for infection.
Leptospirosis is spread in the pee of infected animals, most commonly rats, mice, cows, pigs and dogs.
The diagnosis of leptospirosis is confirmed by a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of blood or urine or by positive serologic testing; rarely, a diagnosis is made by a positive culture of blood or urine.
The diagnosis is not ruled out by negative test results because the sensitivity of leptospirosis testing is suboptimal.