New Vet warns of dangers of leptospirosis to pets — and people

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The new veterinarian on island is warning the community about the presence of leptospirosis, a bacterial disease carried by rats. In 2020, the former acting head of the veterinary clinic, As As early as 2020 the late Tanya Tarasawa who managed the clinic at that time reported that they were seeing an outbreak of leptospirosis among dogs being seen at the clinic.

Testifying before the House Health committee last Thursday, Dr. Barbara Kahl told members of the committee that at least 10 puppies have died recently from the bacterial disease. She stated that while the vet clinic provides treatment, owners often have no knowledge that their pets or other animals have been affected.

She said about 20 animals suffering from leptospirosis have been brought in for treatment and she believes that the bacterial disease is at pandemic level in the territory.

According to Dr. Kahl, she hasn’t been out around the island enough to get an idea of the number stray dogs that might be afflicted.

In response to Faipule Su’a Allexander Eli Jennings’ question, Dr. Kahl explained that leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that can cause a wide range of symptoms including high fevers, headaches, chills, muscle aches, vomiting, jaundice, red eyes and abdominal pain. If not diagnosed and treated, it can cause death. A common carrier of the disease is rats.

One of the issues the new veterinarian explained to the committee is how people don’t understand how people can get leptospirosis through animals. She explained that if you walk barefoot and you have a cut on your foot, you can accidentally walk in area contaminated with dog urine and you can contract leptospirosis.

And the case can be more severe if that person has COVID-19 and then contracts leptospirosis — resulting in comorbidities.

Dr. Kahl said that not only does she want to get this problem under control but she’s also ordered the vaccine for leptospirosis so that our veterinary clinic can vaccinate more of the animal population and reduce this bacteria.

She’s looking forward to working together with an epidemiologist to help her with a local study so that they have factual statistics to work with to formulate a plan for getting this bacteria disease under control.

She further explained that leptospirosis is very dangerous and can affect all the organs in the body especially the kidneys, the heart and the liver.

Faipule Lua’itaua Gene Pan mentioned that a few months ago the local US Post Office in Fagatogo was closed down for few days due to the problem of rats running around inside the building.

His concern with the post office is since rats can carry leptospirosis — being in contact with the mail is another way of transferring leptospirosis to humans.

He also asked the new veterinarian to look at the never ending stray dogs problem. He said there are unhealthy dogs roaming around and it may also cause diseases that can affect humans — especially young children.

Dr. Kahl said that they’re working on hiring an animal control manager to help solve this problem — although they do not have a candidate for this position yet, they do have a shelter identified where they can bring the strays.

The committee chair, Faipule Andra Tereise Samoa pointed out that one of the things American Samoa has been lacking is building up local capacity — i.e. transferring knowledge to local residents and the younger generation — stating that an apprenticeship program would be helpful.

Samoa also talked about reviving the village stray dog programs.

Dr. Kahl was receptive to Samoa’s suggests.

She told the committee that she had reached out to Ohio University regarding information they provided in 2015 regarding bats and COVID and through that, they actually had talks about having veterinary students come here for two week rotation to practice here before they graduate.

These students are already veterinary doctors at that point, but they have to do a two-week rotation for their senior year in order to complete their graduation requirements.

BACKGROUND

In 2020, the former acting head of the veterinary clinic, the late Tanya Tarasawa reported that they were seeing an outbreak of leptospirosis among dogs being seen at the clinic.

She explained due to the rain, rats are moving into or around homes to stay warm and find food.

When people go to work they just dump bowls of dog food so the dogs or puppies can eat while they’re away.

Tarasawa said when the food is not all consumed, the rats move in and contaminate the leftovers with the leptospira bacteria causing a puppy, a whole litter of puppies or a dog to contract the infectious disease.

She explained that leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease, which means it can spread from animals to people.

Tarasawa advised that pet owners and veterinary staff should be careful when caring for an infected dog.

Precautions such as face masks, gloves, and regular hand-washing were recommended to avoid getting infected urine in the eyes, nose, or mouth, or on broken skin.

Careful disposal of soiled bedding is recommended, as well as thorough disinfection of contaminated areas. (1 part Clorox to 10 parts water was recommended.)

Any person feeling unwell after exposure to an infected dog should seek medical attention.

Tarasawa said at the time there’s an urgent need to solve this problem by spaying and neutering to control the pet population — still good advice.