Is civic plan to deal with menace going to the dogs

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is finding it difficult to control the menace of leptospirosis in the city since, while focusing on rodents, the BMC has not been paying attention to another carrier of the disease, i.e. dogs. In fact, the veterinary hospital located in Parel witnesses about a dozen canines suffering from leptospirosis every month during the monsoon.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that spreads through floodwaters contaminated with the urine of an infected dog or rat. According to Lt. Colonel (retired) J.C. Khanna, the superintendent of Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals, also known as the Parel Animal Hospital, “The urine of affected dogs carry the lepto virus. Dogs contract this virus via the water they drink and the habitat they stay in, as rodents — the main carrier of the virus — pollute water and soil with their urine. The civic authorities are unable to keep a tab on those dogs who are responsible for spreading lepto.”

“We get at least 10 to 15 cases every month of dogs affected with lepto during the rainy season. The BMC gets dogs for sterilisation and we scan and test them in our lab. If we find symptoms of lepto, we conduct the necessary treatment. While focusing on rodents, the civic body should also consider the lepto cases among dogs” Dr Khanna said.

The BMC’s health department has received confirmation from referral laboratories in Chennai and Bangalore about these animals being carriers of this disease, which has claimed 20 human lives this year.

Dr Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer, BMC, said, “We have asked pet owners to vaccinate their pets to prevent them from contracting lepto. We have also informed them that care should be taken since the leptospirosis infection spreads through contaminated urine from an infected animal. We have vaccinated 5,994 dogs with the lepto vaccine.”

The transmission of the Leptospirae bacteria occurs from animals to humans. There were 38 confirmed cases of leptospirosis in September in Mumbai, which has a stray dog population of over 95,000 to 100,000 animals.