Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tick infestations and human disease risk in Ontario wildlife and pets
By Smith, Kathryn A et al.·Published in Ticks and tick-borne diseases·2019·Department of Pathobiology, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Tick infestations of wildlife and companion animals in Ontario, Canada, with detection of human pathogens in Ixodes scapularis ticks.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that ticks are common on dogs and wildlife in southern Ontario, with 50 dogs having 67 ticks collected during the research. The most frequently found ticks on raccoons were Ixodes texanus and Dermacentor variabilis. Some of the ticks tested positive for Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) and another tick-borne illness (Anaplasma phagocytophilum). This highlights the importance of checking pets for ticks, especially in areas where these diseases are present, and suggests that pet owners should be vigilant and consult their veterinarian if they find ticks on their animals.
People also search for: dog tick prevention · Lyme disease in dogs · how to remove ticks from pets
Abstract
The growing risk of transmission of tick-borne zoonotic pathogens to humans in Ontario, Canada, warrants investigations into regional tick distribution, tick burdens of local peridomestic animals, and prevalence of tick-borne pathogens. The objectives of this study were to investigate the geographic distribution and magnitude of tick infestations in opportunistically sampled mammalian wildlife and companion animals (i.e., dogs) in southern Ontario and to test these ticks for evidence of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. Ticks collected from wildlife carcasses, live-trapped wildlife and companion animals (2015-2016), as well as wildlife diagnostic cases (2011-2013), were identified to species and life stage. Ixodes scapularis ticks were tested by real-time PCR for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.). Amblyomma americanum ticks were tested for Ehrlichia chaffeensis. A total of 1687 ticks of six species were collected from 334 animals, including 224 raccoons (n = 1381 ticks) and 50 dogs (n = 67 ticks). The most common tick species collected from parasitized raccoons were Ixodes texanus (n = 666 ticks) and Dermacentor variabilis (n = 600 ticks), which were removed from 58.5% (median: 2 ticks; range: 1-36) and 49.1% (median: 2 ticks; range: 1-64) of raccoons, respectively. Of I. scapularis tested, 9.3% (4/43) were positive for Bo. burgdorferi s.s. and 2.3% (1/43) for A. phagocytophilum. These results reveal that numerous tick species parasitize common, peridomestic wildlife and that at least two zoonotic, tick-borne pathogens circulate in southern Ontario. Host-tick vector-pathogen dynamics should continue to be monitored in the face of global climate change, landscape alterations and expanding human populations.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30206012/