Leptospira canicola-grippotyphosa-hardjo-icterohaemorrhagiae-pomona Bacterin

Composition: Leptospira canicola, L. grippotyphosa, L. hardjo, L. icterohaemorrhagiae, and L. pomona bacterin.
Indications: For the prevention of Leptospira canicola, grippotyphosa, hardjo, icterohaemorrhagiae, and pomona infections in susceptible cattle and swine.
Dosage and Administration: Shake well before using. Inject 2 mL intramuscularly into cattle and swine using aseptic techniques. For swine, give a second dose in three (3) to four (4) weeks. Revaccinate during each pregnancy.
Precaution(s): Store in the dark at 35°-45°F (2°-7°C). Do not freeze. Use the entire contents when first opened.
Caution(s): Anaphylactic reactions may occur with this bacterin. Symptomatic treatment: Epinephrine.
Warning(s): Do not vaccinate within 21 days of slaughter.
Discussion: Leptospirosis is a contagious disease of both man and animals and has been estimated to cause losses in excess of 100 million dollars per year to the livestock industry, according to the USDA. This loss is due primarily to abortions and stillbirths in breeding stock, lowered milk production, and by sickness and death in young animals. Abortion rates can be 30% or higher in affected cattle herds before the disease can be stopped.
The causative organisms belong to a group of pathogens called Leptospira interrogans, with five major serovars incriminated: L. grippotyphosa, L. hardjo, L. pomona, L. canicola, and L. icterohaemorrhagiae.
This disease is spread to domestic livestock by the shedding of the organism in the urine, which contaminates feed or water. These organisms survive well in surface waters. The organism may be found in the udder and be secreted in the milk to suckling calves or piglets, thus infecting them.
Many wildlife species may be infected with these organisms, with some of the more common ones being rats, raccoons, skunks, foxes, and opossums. Dogs are also often infected.
The incubation period varies from one (1) to four (4) days and is followed by a leptospiremia (bacteria in the blood) which lasts for one (1) to five (5) days. With the appearance of antibody in the animal's blood, the leptospiremic phase is terminated. The organisms may remain in the kidney and multiply in this location, then are shed in the urine for months or years, infecting other farm animals.
Young animals that are acutely ill with leptospirosis may show a transient fever, loss of appetite, and difficulty in breathing, with death losses approaching 15% due to severe anemia. Lactating cows exhibit a loss of milk production with a milk secretion that is yellow, clotted, and often blood-tinged. Severely affected animals develop anemia, jaundice, hemoglobinuria and pneumonia.
In pregnant cows, the organism may infect the fetus, which dies and is aborted one (1) to four (4) weeks after the leptospiremic phase, usually in the last trimester of pregnancy.
Swine are infected similarly, with the most common serotypes being L. pomona, which is shed from pig to pig via the urine, and L. icterohaemorrhagiae which is spread to pigs from dogs and rats.
Symptoms in swine vary widely. Many of the infections are subclinical and are only recognized by seroconversion, by isolation of the organism from the kidneys and urine, or by cases of leptospirosis in other animals from the swine herd. The most common signs are abortions and stillbirths in pregnant animals, mainly late abortions. Common clinical signs include loss of appetite, intestinal problems and reduced weight gain. Acute or subacute infections are observed in young pigs, with fever and high death loss the primary signs.
As leptospirosis can be an occupational hazard for the dairy worker, the veterinarian should inform the dairy owner of the public health aspects of the disease whenever an outbreak occurs. Using antibiotic therapy and vaccination decreases the hazard by reducing the shedding of leptospires in the urine.
Presentation: Available in 50 dose (100 mL) bottles.