According to DEFRA's Zoonoses 2012 report (published Sept 2013) Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae is the main serovar causing human disease. Click on the pdf icon and go to page 44 (PDF page 49) to read about Lepto in the UK. Zoonoses is the Government report on infections on human and animals during 2012.
By 2020, 14 different strains of Lepto had been identified in the UK by samples submitted to APHA and confirmed in their laboratory.
In the UK, we can find Leptospira canicola and Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae in dogs. Vets have been vaccinating with Lepto 2 (L2) vaccine for some years. Lepto 2 vaccine covers Leptospira canicola and Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae, both of which are found in the UK and Europe.
Nobivac appears to be the first Lepto 2 vaccine in the UK, available from 2002.
Nobivac introduced their European vaccine Lepto 4 (L4) in to the UK market in 2010. Lepto 4 covers Leptospira canicola and Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae - but also vaccinates against Leptospira australis and Leptospira grippotyphosa. This vaccine is different to the L4 that Nobivac distribute in America. There have been a number of reported reactions and even claims of death from the Nobivac vaccine.
Late in 2014 a chain of vets in the Bristol and North Somerset areas called Highcroft vets reported an outbreak of Lepto. Highcroft claim that the dogs had already been vaccinated with L2, but had still been infected with a Lepto strain. Highcroft claim that L Bratislava was found in some of the dogs infected.
It has now been confirmed by other sources that L Bratislava has been found in dogs in the South west, and one presumes that other vets will be following in using L4 instead of L2. But it appears that the Nobivac L4 vaccine allows the dog to shed the disease through it's urine. It is suggested that the infected dogs diagnosed be Highcroft had been infected by dogs that had recently been vaccinated with Nobivac L4 and who shed the disease in public areas.
L3 and L4 is now manufactured by a number of pharmaceutical companies.
My own dogs received their first L4 vaccination in February 2016, which was Versican Plus (Zoetis) Pi L4. Both had reactions which prevented me from grooming them for 2 days. However, the 9 year old had a significant reaction to the vaccine which resulted in his breathing changing significantly and vet confirmed his murmur going from 3 out of 5 to 5 out of 5. One month later when he had his second L4 injection, his lungs and abdomen suddenly filled with fluids and died as a result of that.
The 2012 Zoonoses report suggest that Leptospira australis has been seen in 6 human cases in the UK, and DEFRA have advised that people contracted the disease whilst abroad.
This is an extract of the Zoonoses report from 2012
