HEALTH - Experts Predicting Risky Year for Lyme Disease in NE United States

With spring just around the corner, veterinarians and ecologists are beginning to warn about ticks and Lyme disease.

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) has declared March National Tick Awareness Month.

According to their press release, many people don't know one very important fact about ticks: they don't mind cold weather.

In most parts of Canada, tick activity begins when the snow starts to melt and, depending on the tick species, can continue well into late fall.

For example, black-legged ticks that can transmit Lyme disease start looking for animals to feed on when it’s 4°C outside.

“National Tick Awareness Month is a rare opportunity for us to educate and empower pet owners, so we can work together to help prevent the spread of tick-borne diseases that can affect the health of pets and people,” said Dr. Troy Bourque, CVMA President.

Felicia Keesing, an ecologist at Bard College and Rick Ostfeld, an ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York, are predicting 2017 will be a particularly risky year for Lyme in the Northeast United States.

Why?

Because the Hudson River Valley experienced a mouse plague in 2016 with an overwhelming number of the critters.

Having studied Lyme disease for more than 20 years, Keesing and Ostfeld have developed a system to predict how many cases there will be a year in advance by counting the mice the year before.

They have found that mice are very good at transmitting Lyme and are responsible for infecting the majority of ticks carrying Lyme in the Northeast.

"An individual mouse might have 50, 60, even 100 ticks covering its ears and face," Ostfeld told NPR.

There was an increase in ticks and Lyme disease in 2016, and it appears that may be the case again this year.

Ticks and their carriers, like mice, live in wooded or bushy areas with high grass or leaf litter.

To reduce the chances that a tick will transmit disease to you or your pets the CDC recommends the following:

• Check your pets for ticks daily, especially after they spend time outdoors.
• If you find a tick on your dog, remove it right away.
• Ask your veterinarian to conduct a tick check at each exam.
• Talk to your veterinarian about tickborne diseases in your area.
• Reduce tick habitat in your yard.
• Talk with your veterinarian about using tick preventives on your pet.

You can find more information about preventing tick bites on the CDC website.

HEALTH - Are Ticks and Lyme Disease on the Rise?

With the arrival of warmer spring temperatures, combined with migratory birds and the increased travel of people with their pets, there is a growing abundance of the western blacklegged ticks carrying the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria - which causes Lyme disease - across North America.

According to Dr. Merten Pearson of Noah's Ark Pet Hospital in Amarillo, TX, his clinic has already seen six cases of Lyme disease in dogs this year – and the Panhandle region does not typically see tick-related illnesses. The vet cites travel of people with their pets as the most likely cause of Lyme in areas not typically known to have Lyme disease-carrying ticks.

Dr. Libby Fulton of Arrowhead Veterinary Clinic in Cochrane, AB has also seen a spike in tick-ridden dogs over the last couple of years.

In January of 2015, Fulton observed a tick embedded in a dog’s foot that hadn’t left the province or even the town of Cochrane – the earliest find of a tick in the season to date.

Historically, it was believed that Lyme-carrying ticks could only be found in Alberta dogs that had travelled outside of the province. But ticks know no borders.

“There are several vaccines on the market,” said Fulton, adding that her clinic only administers vaccines upon request to higher risk animals (dogs that travel to higher risk areas such as the Eastern seaboard, hunting dogs), although if the recent trend of more ticks each season was to continue she could foresee Calgary and area clinics eventually offering a vaccine as part of protocol.

“It has become a more pertinent issue even compared to last year…ticks are active at 4 degrees Celsius and we did not have that winter kill this year,” she said, adding that tick season has extended this year from possibly January through fall, rather than just over the course of May through July.

Dr. Kirsten Aarbo of the Okotoks Animal Care Centre cautions animal owners to be mindful of other pets carrying ticks.

“We had a lady in Priddis, AB who had over 200 ticks on her horse,” said Aarbo, who can also attest to the discovery of more ticks in recent years, adding that people should be vigilant when looking for ticks – which like to hide in skin folds and crevices.

While ticks carry other types of illnesses, including ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever – Lyme disease is of particular concern, as it is thought by Lyme communities on both sides of the border that there are actually far more human sufferers than formally diagnosed.

Dogs can bring the hard-to-find disease-carrying ticks in from outside, where it can easily fall off the dog and find its way onto the skin of a child or adult.

Lyme disease has been a controversial subject among human sufferers, many who feel as though they are falling through the cracks of a medical community that misdiagnoses Lyme due to archaic or inaccurate testing methods. While the medical community on both sides does not officially recognize the presence of Lyme disease in every province or state, Lyme sufferers beg to differ.

Much like with humans who contract the vector-borne illness, dogs may contract Lyme disease and nobody is the wiser – as dogs may not exhibit symptoms, or at least those easily identifiable; typical symptoms such as appetite loss, extreme lethargy, arthritis and swollen nodes and joints can easily be confused with other illnesses.

The website DogsandTicks reports over 691,000 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in dogs over the past five years. Their interactive map shows the incidence of Lyme and other diseases throughout Canada and the U.S.

The most important method of tick prevention is to check for ticks during the warmer months.

Click for tick removal methods.

By Lindsay Seewalt

Lindsay is an experienced journalist and mother of three whose heart and home is always open to a four-legged friend. With her Corgi, Angie, as household editor-in-chief, Lindsay gives back to the animal planet through the written word on anything and all ado about pets. She is passionate about topics regarding animal welfare and responsible pet ownership, which she aims to instill in both her readers and children to be compassionate animal lovers who are conscious and considerate that furry friends around the globe deserve a voice.

Increased Risk of Tick-Borne Diseases for People and Dogs

The tick season begins in April and lasts through November. As people and the country's 75 million dogs enjoy warmer temperatures, the dangers of tick-borne diseases threaten from the deep woods to urban parks.

According to experts and a leading Web authority on the subject, DogsAndTicks.com, regular screenings by a veterinarian and preventive medications are the best ways to protect pets and families from disease-carrying ticks.

The tie between canine and human exposure is closely related. A 2011 Institute of Medicine of the National Academies report describes it this way: "Animals, especially dogs, because of their close proximity to humans and the fact that they often present with similar signs of tick-borne disease, are often sentinels for human tick-borne diseases" (Elchos and Goddard, 2003).

Infected dogs are warning signs for their owners. Once pet owners and veterinarians know that a tick-borne disease exists in a specific area, they can take preventive steps to reduce the risk to nearby families and dogs. This knowledge is especially helpful, "because recognizing tick-borne illness in people is difficult" (Institute of Medicine).

The same is true for dogs. Signs of tick-borne diseases in dogs are often subtle or even imperceptible until it's too late for effective treatment, and pets across the country are at risk.

"Ticks in every U.S. state carry diseases," said William L. Nicholson, Ph.D., Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the CDC.

So, pet owners everywhere?in both rural and urban areas?should have their dogs screened annually by a veterinarian for signs of tick-transmitted diseases. Lyme is the most widely known and common tick disease, but there are many others that ticks carry and can transmit to dogs and people. These include Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis (sometimes known as "dog fever"), ehrlichiosis and some emerging diseases that can have devastating effects.

"There have been recent dramatic increases in tick-borne illnesses, including Lyme, babesiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever," said Nicholson.

The number of dogs exposed to tick diseases also is increasing. Between 2006 and 2010, nationwide studies show a 30 percent increase in the rate of dogs exposed to tick-transmitted diseases (Little and Bowman, 2006; DogsAndTicks.com).

Though rare, some tick-borne diseases can be fatal in both pets and people. More often, though, they can cause bleeding disorders, central nervous system dysfunction and kidney failure in dogs, and flu-like symptoms, including fatigue and headache, or even the loss of limbs in humans. And, according to the CDC, laboratory results for tick-borne illness in people are often negative on the first sample and require a second test two to three weeks later to confirm inspection. Further, children are more susceptible to infections due to their immature immune systems.

People who want to learn more about how to protect their families and pets should consult their veterinarians and DogsAndTicks.com, a helpful website with information about tick diseases and tick-bite prevention. Since early diagnosis and treatment are keys to longer and higher-quality lives for dogs, DogsAndTicks.com also teaches people how to recognize difficult-to-distinguish signs of infection and remove embedded ticks.

The veterinarians and veterinary parasitologists who support and develop content for DogsAndTicks.com are committed to educating pet owners about the prevalence and risks of tick-borne diseases. The website does not endorse any individual product but serves as an informational source, with tools that include interactive prevalence maps for tick-borne diseases based on diagnostic screenings from across the country.

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. is a global market leader in pet healthcare innovation, helping practicing veterinarians around the world advance medical care with a broad range of diagnostic products and services. IDEXX created DogsAndTicks.com  as a resource for pet owners.

For further information: Robyn Caulfield, +1-913-663-4200, robyn@bcsthinktank.com

Merial Helps Pets Stay Healthy this Summer

Spring means pet owners are looking forward to spending time
outdoors with their four-legged friends. But what these pet owners may
not realize is that outdoor activities and back-to-back pet play dates can cause increased exposure to diseases like rabies, as well as to harmful parasites like fleas and ticks.

"People love nature walks with their pets or visits to the dog park, but
they probably never think about the health threats that lurk outdoors," says Bob Menardi, DVM, veterinary spokesperson for Merial. "Most people
are aware that rabies is fatal in animals once clinical signs occur, but
they might be unaware that ticks can transmit potentially fatal
diseases, and flea infestations can also be extremely hazardous to a
pet's health."

This spring, Merial is teaming up with participating veterinary clinics in communities across the nation to help pet owners protect their pets against health threats and to promote a healthy pet lifestyle. From now until June 30, 2011, if you purchase six doses of FRONTLINE(R) Plus your pet will also receive a complimentary rabies vaccination, administered at the clinic.

Pet owners who would like to take advantage of this opportunity may
visit www.frontlinekilleroffer.com for more information and directions on how to download a printable coupon to take to participating veterinarians. Additionally, they are encouraged to speak with their veterinarians to find out additional details about the program and ways to help protect their pets from other harmful diseases.

"Pet owners should not underestimate the threat from fleas and ticks and
the assistance that their veterinary team can offer in protecting pets from these important parasites," says Michael Murray, DVM, technical marketing director of Merial. "Fleas and ticks can cause serious, debilitating medical conditions in pets, but just as with rabies, these parasites are preventable."

About Merial
Merial is a world-leading, innovation-driven animal health company that provides a comprehensive range of products to enhance the health, well-being and performance of a wide range of animals. Merial employs approximately 5,600 people and operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. Its 2010 sales were more than $2.6 billion. Merial is a Sanofi company.

For more information