FLEA AND TICK TREATMENTS
Pennsylvania Has Most Tick-Borne Disease In Country: CDC
Tick season is here and we have some bad news: there is more tick-borne disease in Pennsylvania than any other state in America. That’s according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says tick-borne illnesses are drastically increasing in Pennsylvania and across the nation.
Currently, more than 25 species of ticks have been identified in Pennsylvania, according to the Penn State Department of Entomology. Tick-borne diseases occur throughout the country but predominate in the eastern parts of the country.
LYME DISEASE AND OTHER TICK-BORNE DISEASES (TBDs)
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is often transmitted through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick, also known as a deer tick.
While Lyme disease is arguably the most commonly occurring and widely-recognized TBD, it is by no means the only one. Different types of ticks can harbor a variety of microorganisms that can be harmful to humans, including Babesia, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Powassan Virus, Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, other Borrelia species, and possibly Bartonella – to name just a few.
Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, muscle aches, joint pain, a bull’s eye rash may appear, and other symptoms that can be mistaken for viral infections, such as influenza or infectious mononucleosis. Joint pain can be mistaken for other types of arthritis, such as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), and neurologic signs of Lyme disease can mimic those caused by other conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Lyme Disease in Dogs
Lyme disease is one of the most common tick-transmitted diseases in the world but only causes symptoms in 5-10% of affected dogs. It is caused by a spirochete (bacteria) species of the Borrelia burgdorferi group. When infection leads to disease in dogs, the dominant clinical feature is recurrent lameness due to inflammation of the joints. There may also be a lack of appetite and depression. More serious complications include damage to the kidneys, and rarely, heart or nervous system disease.
Kidney disease appears to be more prevalent in Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, Shetland sheepdogs, and Bernese Mountain dogs. Experimentally, young dogs appear to be more susceptible to Lyme disease than older dogs. Transmission of the disease has been reported in dogs throughout the United States and Europe, but is most prevalent in the upper Midwestern states, the Atlantic seaboard, and the Pacific coastal states.
