Knowledge, attitudes, and practices among veterinarians during an outbreak of canine leptospirosis—Maricopa County, Arizona, 2017

Abstract Leptospirosis, caused by Leptospira spp., is a zoonotic bacterial disease important to both human and animal health. Six pathogenic serovars are currently known to commonly infect and cause disease in dogs in the United States. While canine leptospirosis infection is historically rare in Arizona (≤5 cases reported annually) (ADHS unpublished data) several clusters were reported in Maricopa County (MC) during February 2016–January 2017. Public health initiated an outbreak response and developed a knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey for veterinarians. The goals were to determine awareness and general attitudes about canine leptospirosis and to identify gaps in veterinarians’ knowledge in treatment and prevention. We distributed a 40-question self-administered online survey to 1058 Arizona Veterinary Medical Association members, made available during February 9–May 15, 2017. We analyzed the results using Pearson’s Chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test; a P-value