Alaska is a dog’s paradise for many reasons, but a big one is the relative lack of diseases compared to other states. Parasites like fleas and ticks and illnesses like heartworm and Lyme disease are rare in Alaska. But with warming temperatures, veterinarians say some of these diseases might become more common, and they’re recommending prevention.
One of these diseases, that’s preventable through vaccination, is leptospirosis. It’s a bacterial disease that spreads through contact with infected surfaces, like contaminated water, animal carcasses, or other bodily fluids.
The bacteria can infect a wide range of animals. But it’s particularly dangerous for dogs. Greg Closter, the medical director at the Alaska SPCA in Anchorage, said leptospirosis can cause kidney and liver failure, which can be fatal.
“I used to practice down in the Lower 48 and saw a couple cases of leptospirosis [in dogs], and it's, you know, it's a hard thing to see," he said.
The disease can also spread to people from dogs, and between infected people. According to Nina Hansen, the attending veterinarian at the University of Alaska, cases are treated very seriously in the Lower 48.
“I came from Illinois, where there's leptospira all over the place," she said. "We have [cases] in our ICU. We treat them as a biohazard because we don't want any of the vets or people to get infected.”
But when Hansen moved to Alaska in 2007, the owner of the clinic she worked at told her the disease didn’t exist here. Until it did.
“I got involved with a project with Fish and Game, and Fish and Game was actually harvesting some caribou to just kind of assess their health," she said. "And one of these caribou, we cut open the kidney and it was full of pus.”
They sent that kidney off for analysis, and found it was infected with leptospira bacteria.
“So I remembered that conversation with the clinic owner that was probably five years prior who said ‘we don’t have it here,’ and I was like, ‘well, look, we're wrong, we have it here," Hansen said.
So leptospirosis does exist in Alaska. Cases have remained pretty sporadic over the past 10 years. But of every community in the state, Kodiak has had the most. Hannah Harper, a certified veterinary technician at the Kodiak Veterinary Clinic, said there isn’t research yet on why Kodiak has had more cases than elsewhere. But there are a few potential reasons.
“Kodiak is very wet, rain, puddles, stagnant water everywhere," she said. "And we have a lot of wildlife too. So I think all those factors kind of just increase the potential.”
She added that Kodiak’s Coast Guard base brings a lot of people and dogs in and out of the state, so dogs could be bringing the disease from the lower 48.
According to data from the state veterinary department, a Kodiak dog died from leptospirosis for the first time in 2019, and another Kodiak dog died from the disease the following year. According to Harper, both dogs were staying at fish camps when they were infected. Two Kodiak brown bears also died with positive leptospirosis tests in 2018 and 2019 according to state data.
Harper said that they have seen several suspected canine cases since then, but none that have tested positive for the disease. She explained that because mild symptoms of leptospirosis can look a lot like other illnesses—fever, lethargy, vomiting, and diarrhea—people might not bring their pets to the vet, and vets might not test for it.
“I think it probably has been here, we just haven’t had the information to say positively," she said.
According to Harper, the Kodiak Veterinary Clinic started vaccinating for the disease about four years ago. They have since made it a part of some of their puppy vaccine packages and recommend it for dogs who spend a lot of time outdoors.
Even though the disease hasn’t become widespread in mainland Alaska at this point, the Alaska SPCA also decided to make leptospirosis one of their core vaccines at the end of last year. Competitive sled dog races across the state, like the Iditarod, also require that every competing canine be vaccinated against the disease. Hansen with the University of Alaska thinks that’s a good call.
“Why not just get ahead of it and start vaccinating our dogs for it before it becomes a big problem," she said. "Because it lives in water, and as the climate gets warmer and as we have warmer summers and standing water for more months of the year, I think it's going to get worse.”
Other than getting their dogs vaccinated against the disease, Hansen said dog owners can decrease their risk by keeping their pets away from standing water, like puddles and ponds. And if dogs–or their owners–are showing symptoms, she said to go to a vet or doctor right away. The Kodiak Veterinary Clinic can be reached at (907) 486-5418.
