Veterinarians are sounding the alarm over a sharp increase in the number of dogs getting Lyme disease.
At the River Road Animal Hospital, Dr. Kerry Volmers has seen 14 cases of tick diseases this year. Nearly a dozen of those have been Lyme disease.
“Eleven have been Lyme disease, three have been anaplasmosis,” Volmers says. “The majority of those dogs never left the area, so we know they picked it up here.”
Lyme disease is spread by black-legged ticks. The blood sucking arachnids have been spreading farther north over the past decade and the disease is spreading too. A total of 28 cases have been reported in the region since April.
“We've never seen these numbers before, in the past you might see one a year, one every other year, something like that, but that many in one year is unprecedented,” says Dr. Ken Storimans of the Elmvale Veterinary Hospital.
Veterinarians recommend screening dogs for ticks after walks in wooded areas. There are also drugs and vaccines available for dogs.
The infection can make people sick too. Typical symptoms include a rash, fever, headache and fatigue.
According to the Simcoe Muskoka Health Unit, the region is still considered low risk when compared with other parts of the province. However, they are monitoring Lyme disease closely.
“We have two cases that have been reported to us what we would call probable cases. One of them had laboratory confirmation, one did not,” says chief medical officer Dr. Charles Gardiner.
The health unit says people should seek medical attention if they have been bitten by a tick as a precaution.
The tick itself can also be tested to see if it's carrying the disease.
