How blood-borne diseases from Europe could find their way into your home
I've blogged before about ticks, those mini-vampires that lurk in the countryside. They're a minor physical nuisance for pets, but the more significant issue is the fact that they suck – and then inject – micro-doses of blood. In doing so, they transmit serious diseases between animals, and even worse, from animals to humans.
A paper just published in the journal of Medical and Veterinary Entomology studied 3,500 dogs treated by 173 veterinary surgeries. The project was one of the largest recent investigations into the problem of ticks: all 173 veterinary practices across the UK were recruited to monitor tick attachment to dogs in their local areas between March and October 2009. Practices selected five dogs at random each week from those brought to the surgery and undertook a thorough, standardised examination for ticks.
They found that, at any one time, 14.9 per cent of dogs were infested with ticks, and that certain breeds – including retrievers, setters and spaniels, terriers and sheep dogs – were most susceptible. Longer-haired breeds were more prone to ticks than short-haired varieties, presumably because it’s easier for ticks to attach to their fur as they walk by.
There are two worrying aspects about the study’s findings – both connected, scientists say, with climate change.
First, the overall incidence of ticks is significantly higher than previously. This means that pet owners are going to have to pay more attention to tick control, both for the health of their pets and to protect the humans in their household.
Second, a new foreign species of tick was identified in south-east England and west Wales, raising fears it has become a permanent resident. There’s a real concern that this new tick could introduce new blood-borne diseases from Europe into the UK.
Diseases carried by ticks are far more common and serious than most people realise. Lyme Disease is the classic example; people pick it up by being bitten by an infected tick. It's often not diagnosed for many months, by which time sufferers have developed permanent and serious damage to the nervous system.
People who’ve suffered from Lyme Disease have been so motivated to increase awareness of the problem that they’ve set up an organisation to spread the word. Their website contains excellent tips on minimising the risk from ticks. In view of the findings in this latest study, everyone should take a couple of minutes to take this information on board.
If 15 per cent of dogs have ticks on them, how many humans are bitten without even realising it?
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