On Tuesday this week, a six-month-old dog was diagnosed with the rare canine disease leptospirosis at the Minde animal clinic in Bergen. This is a bacterial disease that can cause mild symptoms like a mild flu, but the disease can also become acute and dangerous. In such cases, the disease can be fatal without antibiotic treatment. In rare cases, it can also be transmitted to humans. The puppy Fusse received help and is on the road to recovery, says foster father Knut Helge Mowinckel. – The dog has almost risen from the dead, he says. ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY: Dog owner Knut Helge Mowinckel says that the dog has “almost risen from the dead” after being seriously ill from leptospirosis. The dog is now on the road to recovery. Photo: Merete Mowinckel Asking dog owners to be aware It was veterinarian Hilde Røssland who discovered the rare disease Fusse had. – We were surprised, because this is not something we usually see. I have never made this diagnosis before, says Røssland at the veterinary clinic. It is not certain where the six-month-old dog got the bacteria from. The disease often appears in dogs that have recently been abroad, and then become ill when they return home. Nevertheless, the cases are rare. – A few years typically pass between each case. There may be one or two cases, it also passes again, she says. Røssland says it is not always easy to detect the symptoms of the disease. – It can be everything or nothing. Everything from a bit of vomiting and a bit of an upset stomach, to severe acute kidney failure, liver failure or, in rare cases, a type of pneumonia, she says. Dog owners are asked to be aware of symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea and generally impaired general condition. OWNERS BEWARE: Veterinarian Hilde Røsseland asks dog owners to be aware of symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea and generally impaired general condition. Photo: Minde dyreklinikk / Privat A large device was connected to The infection occurs when the disease is excreted in the urine of sick animals, and that healthy animals come into contact with this with intact mucous membranes such as the eyes, nose and mouth and through tears and wounds in the skin. Røssland further states that the disease is not contagious from dog to dog, and that it is very contagious from dog to human. When the case first became known, a device consisting of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, FHI, the veterinarians and the infection control office in Bergen was switched on, says the infection control chief in Bergen, Marit Voltersvik. – We have good communication with each other. The infectious disease control office is contacted to advise those who have come across this. The previous case in Norway where a person was infected by this was in 1981, says Voltersvik, and emphasizes that it happens incredibly rarely. Following the recommendation of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the infected dog has received various orders, such as that the dog must urinate in other areas. DO NOT BELIEVE IN AN OUTBREAK: In rare cases, the infection can be transmitted to humans, but the infection control chief in Bergen, Marit Voltersvik, does not believe that there will be an outbreak. Photo: Tony Ågotnes / news I don’t think it’s an outbreak Veterinær Røssland has no indications that this case is part of an outbreak. – We do not think that this can be found in several places, and that for the time being we should be completely calm. Should there be more, we will have to deal with the situation when it arises, she says. As a dog owner, she encourages common sense. – Dogs are dogs, you can’t stop them from drinking things outdoors. Basically, I mean that things happen, and that you should rather pay attention to symptoms in the dog. If your dog is sick, I would have it checked, she says. There is a vaccine against the disease, but in Norway dogs are not usually vaccinated against the disease. They do this in other countries where the disease occurs more often.
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– We were surprised – news Vestland
