Chapter 5: Canine Tick Borne Disease: Big Ailments Can Arrive in Small Packages 1 CE Hour
Expiration Date : January 15, 2029 Course overview
This course is designed to provide veterinarians with an in-depth understanding and up-to-date information about canine tick-borne diseases. The prevalence, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of various tick-borne illnesses that Learning objectives After completing this course, the learner will be able to: Identify the risk factors of tick-borne diseases. Review important tick species found within the United States.
affect dogs will be thoroughly discussed. Topics covered include Lyme disease, tick paralysis, canine monocytic ehrlichiosis (CME), Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), and emerging tick-borne pathogens. Compare the differing clinical presentations of tick paralysis, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and canine Ehrlichiosis. Explain the importance of proper tick prevention and tick-borne disease vaccination (if applicable).
INTRODUCTION
2020) Over time, threats of ticks and tick-borne diseases have evolved in response to changes in tick and wild animal populations and land use by humans. Climatic changes have created favorable conditions for geographic expansions of tick populations. In contrast to many other arthropod vectors, where only specific instars imbibe blood, all motile tick stages feed on blood. (Nicholson, 2019) In severe cases, there may be respiratory muscles paralysis. Symptoms tend to be symmetrical. It should be noted that pain sensation of affected dogs remains intact even with paralysis. Pathogenesis The toxin is presumed to travel from the attachment site via the lymph to the systemic circulation and then to all areas of the body, where it has a direct effect on cellular potassium channels and thus on intracellular calcium levels. However, primary hypoventilation is the main cause of death in most severe cases, in which alveolar disease may also be present. (Cope, 2023) Antitoxin immunity, starting at least 2 weeks after primary tick exposure and lasting a few weeks, can be boosted by further infestations; however, chronic tick exposure eventually is associated with a decline in immunity, possibly due to toxin-neutralizing effects by the host. (Cope, 2023) Diagnosis Diagnosis is based on clinical signs, finding a tick on the body of the patient, and rapid resolution of clinical signs after removal of the tick. (Lundgren, 2016) Differential diagnosis Acute polyradiculoneuritis, botulism, myasthesinia gravis. Treatment ● Tick removal Removal of the tick is the primary means of treatment because symptoms improve rapidly after the tick stops feeding.
The increasing prevalence and transmission rates of tick- borne diseases in dogs have become primary global concerns. These problems also have important public health implications. Specific disease pathogens are transmitted through the bite of infected ticks, leading to a range of clinical signs and potentially serious complications. Despite the widespread availability of preventatives, in the US, ticks are primary disease vectors, accounting for 77-95% of the annual reported vector-borne disease cases. (Rodino, Tick paralysis Tick paralysis, which is a non-infectious neurologic syndrome of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), occurs following tick (gravid female tick) attachment, engorgement, and injection of tick saliva toxins during feeding. The neurotoxins could disrupt the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, leading to the generation of a neuromuscular blockade. (Gülersoy, 2024) Acute flaccid paralysis is chemically induced by the tick which means that the symptoms continue only while the tick is feeding on the host. Removal of the tick results in the alleviation of symptoms. There are some cases, however, in which profound paralysis develops and becomes fatal before the tick’s presence is detected. In North America there are six tick species that are thought to carry the neurotoxin: ● Dermacentor andersoni (Rocky Mountain wood tick) ● Dermacentor variabilis (American dog tick) ● Amblyomma americanum (lone star tick) ● Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast tick) ● Ixodes scapularis (black-legged tick or deer tick) Symptoms Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) that occurs in tick paralysis is characterized by the rapid onset of weakness, occasionally involving the respiratory and swallowing muscles. (Gülersoy, 2024) The weakness generally starts in the hind limbs and progresses to the front limbs and, finally, paralysis of all four limbs. In some cases, the neurotoxin can affect the facial nerves leading to decreased tone in the jaw muscles, changes in the voice, and swallowing problems.
EliteLearning.com/Veterinarian
Book Code: VFL1526
Page 44
Powered by FlippingBook