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Rats and mice are an even more common reservoir for lepto. It used to be known as Rat Catcher's Disease. In humans doxycyline is the antiobiotic for you. I keep Rat Terriers for it. Human doctors aren't altogether up to date on it as well.

Maryanne

On 6/2/07, Linda Mirams <lbm@xxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 1 Jun 2007 16:26:56 -0700 (PDT), Skyla Stewart wrote
> I found this from another forum and was curious if anyone
> is familiar with it? Is this something that we might want
> to be aware of due to the nature of where the horses
> drink on many of the rides? Just wondering is all.
>
>   http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=37888&source=rss


First paragraph reads:

    The University of Kentucky&#8217;s Livestock Disease Diagnostic
    Center said March 7 it has confirmed 40 cases of equine
    leptospirosis in the Central Kentucky region from July
    2006 until now, and most of the observed cases have
    resulted in foal loss by pregnant mares...


Yes, lepto is something I now know far too much about.  Both my mares
are kept out on 24-hour pasture in east Tennessee.  After over two years
with no problems at all, both came down with "Moon Blindness" in late 2005.
There had a relapse in spring 2006.  This is horrible stuff, very painful
for the horse, and once an eye flareup occurs, it is extremely difficult
to get rid of.

The reservoir, in my horse's case, now appears to be racoon urine, not
the ponds and springs that provide the pastures with water.  What was
happening is that I'd go out and feed my horses in their feed tubs,
then leave.  The feed tubs sat out essentially all the time.  Occasionally
I'd give them a scrub, but only about once a week or so.

Well, the racoons would come by and "lick the bowl" and pee into the
feed tubs.  The horses would pick up the bacteria from the dry urine
when they ate.

Now, I feed the horses, hang around the 40 minutes or so it takes them
to finish, then immediately pick up the tubs and lock them up in
a steel garbage can so that the racoons can't get at them.  I also
grind into dust any feed that falls on the ground so that the horses
won't try to nibble on it after a racoon has peed on it.  The feed
itself is also kept in steep garbage cans.  Any sign an animal
has gotten into the feed, it gets dumped and I buy a new garbage can.

Coyotes can also be carriers.  Ditto cows.  And dogs.

It's been 15 months since I started taking these extra precautions,
and so far there has been no reoccurrence.  I'm praying I've licked
it for good.

However, if I ever breed my mare again, I am going to:

- put her on a full course of antibiotic (lepto likes to hang out mostly
   in the urinary and reproductive organs)
- remove her from this farm to a more conventional stable where she'll
   be fed under controlled circumstances, and watered from deep wells
   from prior to her conception to well after her delivery

I'd also be very leary of letting a horse have close contact with
an infected horse, particularly keeping them in the same stall where
an infected horse has urinated.

Note also that some vets are a little out of date in their knowledge
of this disease.  (Vets actually are among the people most likely
to catch it.)  Vets must use gloves when examining and treating your
horses, including the eyes, and absolutely must change gloves before
moving on to the next animal!  You wear gloves, too!

The best single technical source on this that I've found is the UN World
Health Organization's report on lepto:  WHO:  HUMAN LEPTOSPIROSIS: GUIDANCE
FOR DIAGNOSIS, SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL.  See at:

  http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2003/WHO_CDS_CSR_EPH_2002.23.pdf


Linda Mirams









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