Rural
2 July, 2026
Warning issued to vaccinate dogs
Dog owners across the Southern Highlands, Tablelands, Wollondilly, Yass, Camden and Campbelltown are being advised to vaccinate their beloved pet against the deadly disease known as leptospirosis.
Dog owners across the Southern Highlands, Tablelands, Wollondilly, Yass, Camden and Campbelltown are being advised to vaccinate their beloved pet against the deadly disease known as leptospirosis.
Leptospirosis is a severe, often fatal bacterial infection.
Dogs can develop rapid onset disease spread by rats and other rodents urinating in puddles and stagnant water.
Dogs can contract leptospirosis from drinking from that water puddle for example, or if they have a water bowl that is outside overnight and there are wildlife or rodents drinking out of that water and potentially contaminating that with their urine as well.
When a dog gets sick with the disease, the clinical signs are non-specific, like lethargy, lack of appetite, vomiting, or diarrohea.
Sydney University’s Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science & Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases has put together information for pet owners in partnership with Dr Keith McKellar-Stewart and his team at Mittagong Veterinary Hospital.
Dr. McKellar Stewart praised Highlanders for vaccinating their dogs and noted that because of this there have thankfully been no cases in the Southern Highlands for 2026.
“There have been no confirmed cases in the Highlands this year to date, along with much lower case numbers across NSW, which may reflect growing vaccination uptake among dog owners,” he told The Southern Wire.
“I commend Highlands pet owners who have vaccinated their dogs, helping to protect both their pets and our wider community.”
There have been five cases of leptospirosis in the period of January to June this year, in Mosman and Liverpool in Sydney, the Central Coast (Somersby), Lake Macquarie and Narrabri.
The recommendation therefore is that dogs across the areas of the South Coast, Southern Highlands, Sutherland Shire, Newcastle, Wollongong, Liverpool, Tamworth, Narrabri and surrounds, Inner Sydney, Eastern Suburbs, Sydney City, Lower North Shore and the Inner West should be vaccinated as soon as possible.
They are also recommending to get it done in areas where dogs are in contact with rats or other rodents.
The Southern Wire also spoke to the main veterinarian involved with the program, Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine & Associate Professor in Small Animal Medicine, Dr. Christine Griebsch from Sydney University about the disease itself and how to ensure your dog is vaccinated against the three strains of Leptospirosis, which are known as Copehagenii, Bratislava, and Arborea.
“In order to diagnose leptospirosis specifically, the veterinarian that has then seen this dog needs to have a high suspicion of leptospirosis, and then they will do some blood and urine tests to see if it could be the potential cause for the clinical signs and not just a simple case of gastroenteritis,” Dr. Griebsch said.
“To diagnose the disease, there are certain tests that need to be done to confirm the diagnosis and then initiate treatment.”
In the past five years or so, there have been cases of leptospirosis in the Southern Highlands.
“The last case was diagnosed in June 2025 in Bundanoon, and then before that there were two cases in 2024 from Kangaroo Valley and East Kangaloon, in 2023 in Robertson, in 2022 in Burradoo and then back in 2020 in Firefly (near Nabiac, west of Forster on the NSW Mid North Coast),” Dr. Griebsch told The Southern Wire.
“A lot of the dogs were living on farms and had come in to contact with wildlife or rodents, which are a source of infection.”
Dr Griebsch said that if a dog does contract leptospirosis, it can have devastating consequences.
“The mortality rate is quite high, for example when we first came across it there was a mortality rate of about 80 percent,” she said.
“Which then decreased to 50 percent after we started vaccinating, but in recent months and years we have seen an increase in the mortality rate again. So, if a dog gets infected it can result in death, so I would recommend vaccinating a dog against leptospirosis to protect it.”
Dr. Griebsch says to get the proper vaccination course, the dog needs to have the first injection, then a second one two to four weeks later, and then an annual booster after that.
“If the vaccination protocol isn’t followed then the protection isn’t as good as it could be,” she said.
“But what we can see that if a dog is vaccinated against leptospirosis, but still contracts the disease, the outcome is usually better. The chances of survival are much better in a vaccinated dog.”
There are two specific vaccinations that are available for all three strains.
“One is the Protec 2I from pharmaceutical company Behringer, which covers the predominant Copenhagenii strain which for a very long time has been the predominant strain causing disease in dogs,” Dr. Griebsch added.
“Now there’s a new vaccine from InterVet called known as Lepto 2, which covers for the strains Copenhagenii, Australis and Bratislava which are now the predominant strains causing disease. Also, if a dog has received a Leptospirosis vaccine the same type of vaccine should be continued. If the owner or the vet wants to switch to another vaccine, they need to start the primary vaccination course again (first injection, then second one 2 to 4 weeks later, then a yearly booster).”
Mittagong Veterinary Hospital also has a Leptospirosis fact sheet for those who want to find out more about the disease.
They can go to the link at https://www.mittagongvet.com.au/Mittagong/Blog/Leptospirosis-2022-A-Potentially-Fatal-Dog-Disease-UPDATED-OCT-2022.
Mittagong Veterinary Hospital is located at 109 Main St, Mittagong.
You can contact them on 4872 2028 or visit the website at https://www.mittagongvet.com.au/.
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