Tag Archives: lepto

It’s been all over the news in 2021: rat sightings are way up in New York City. While there’s plenty of speculation why, one thing is clear: increased interaction between rats and dogs is not good for the health of our fur families. Rats carry diseases that can be deadly to both dogs and humans,

With the help of veterinarians and physicians, public health officials monitor human and animal populations for signs of infectious diseases. City and state public health officials investigate outbreaks of disease to protect the health of their citizens. Between 2006 and 2013, 116 cases of leptospirosis have been diagnosed in NYC. Any dog can contract leptospirosis. Find out how to protect your dog on our blog.

Historians believe rats arrived in the new world as stowaways on the sailing ships of explorers like Christopher Columbus. These “colonist” rats brought diseases such a plague and typhus. A recently published study of rats in New York City “rats” on the veritable Noah’s Ark of organisms infecting these ubiquitous pests. Scientists ratting on the