Leptospirosis is an infectious disease frequently observed in dogs. Some dogs with positive titters to leptospirosis have a clinical history of neurological disease. The relationship between the presence of acute or chronic seizure and the incidence of leptospirosis has not been evaluated.

Patients presented to the veterinary medical teacher hospital at the University of Mexico, during the period January 2004-November 2004, with clinical history of acute o chronic seizure, were randomly evaluated for the presence of distemper and leptospirosis serum titters and dark shield.

A total number of 44 dogs with clinical history of seizure that were not vaccinated before, were evaluated. Twenty nine were randomly evaluated for leptospirosis, and thirty six were randomly evaluated for distemper.

Eight dogs (27.5%) had positive titters and dark shield for leptospirosis and 16 patients (44.4%) showed titters positive to distemper. From the others 25 patients, 13 were negatives to both test, and 7 were negative to the single test that was selected.

Our results demonstrated a lower incidence of leptospirosis when compared with distemper titters. Even the incidence of leptospirosis between the neurological patients is low; our results demonstrated that leptospirosis may be considered as a related etiological agent when considering differential diagnosis for seizures in dogs. Given the little information that exists on the leptospirosis like etiologic agent in neurological transtorns in veterinary medicine, it suggests that this subdiagnosing leptospirosis associated a neurologic transtorns.

References

1.  Panicker J. N., Mammachan R, et al. Primary neuroleptospirosis. Department of Medicine, Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. Postgrad Med J 2001;77:589-590 (September).

2.  Abraham M. The central nervous system in leptospirosis. Kerala Medical Journal 1998;38:21-22.

3.  The clinico-morphological characteristics of the nervous system lesions in icterohemorrhagic leptospirosis. Matiash VI, Anisimova IuN.