Those of you who read my last homepage will know that the pet travel rules changed as of the 1st January this year. One of the changes is that the compulsory treatment of dogs for ticks prior to re-entry into the UK is no longer in effect. I made the point, as many vets have, that just because the law has changed it doesn’t mean that your dog is not at risk of picking up ticks abroad and becoming infected with any of the several diseases that can be spread by these parasites.

One such tick-borne disease is Lyme disease. It is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and can infect both humans and dogs. A team at Bristol University led by Faith Smith wanted to see how big a problem the disease is in the UK. It was always thought that only about 0.5% of ticks were infected with the bacteria but there has long been a suspicion that the disease was on the rise with more cases being reported year upon year. Lyme disease can also be tricky to diagnose and so might be under-reported.

Once an infected tick attaches to the skin the bacteria enters the bloodstream with the saliva of the tick. A characteristic ‘bullseye’ rash appears within a few days and then other symptoms develop. In humans it usually manifests in the early stages as a flu-like disease with fever and headache but if missed and left untreated it can cause long term joint, heart, organ and central nervous problems with paralysis in the most extreme cases. In dogs it is most often seen as a ‘shifting’ lameness because of inflammation of the joints.

Lyme disease is actually quite effectively treated with antibiotics but it responds much better if caught early and treated correctly. Because the disease can look like so many others and because it is not seen much in this country it may be easy to miss. It is also complicated by the fact that the ticks can also spread other diseases at the same time which can make diagnosis even more confusing.

The Bristol team randomly sampled dogs seen at vet clinics over a period of time to see how many had ticks and how many of those ticks were infected with the Lyme bacteria. Around 20% of the dogs were carrying ticks and of those, 2.3% of the ticks were carrying the disease. Common sense says that owners tend to go where their dogs go so the risk of infection to humans and dogs is actually much higher than was previously thought.

So what can you do to keep yourself and your dog safe? Avoid heavily tick affected areas like moors and woodland. Wear long trousers tucked into your socks. Check your clothes and all over your dog after walks. The ticks can be as small as a poppy seed so look closely! Brush your clothes and your dog’s coat off before you go indoors. Talk to your vet about good quality products to kill ticks and make sure you have a tick remover too. Just pulling ticks off can leave the head parts behind but tick removers are very effective at getting the tick, the whole tick and nothing but the tick. Lyme disease usually won’t be transmitted until the tick has been feeding for more than 18 hours so if you prevent ticks and find them early you’ll hopefully stay way ahead of the game.

Lastly, although the levels are higher than we used to think, don’t panic! Simple tick control measures are easy to maintain and if you have any doubts about whether you or your dog might have the disease seek medical attention sooner rather than later. And remember, keep your dogs treated for ticks at home and abroad. It makes good sense, whatever the legislation says.

Also many thanks to David Bellamy and Scott Miller for their endorsements for the new book. And I must say huge thanks to Brian Blessed who gave us such a brilliant and lengthy one that we made it into the foreword!