Clinique Vétérinaire Lasalle

It is a zoonose, which means that humans catch the disease via a tick bite rather than from their dog. The tick in question is the deer tick Ixodes scapularis as well as other ticks from the Ixodes family. The disease is caused by a bacteria (a spirochete) Borrellia burdorferi . This desease mainly affects dogs.

The incubation period of this disease, i.e. the time between the tick bite and the first clinical symptoms, is from 2 to 5 months.

The entire area of the north-eastern part of the United States (New England) is at highest risk. Only in recent years have cases been reported in Québec.

The most common clinical symptoms in dogs are recurring arthritis attacks with lameness, sometimes accompanied by anorexia and depression. In the long term, dogs can develop neurological, cardiac and kidney diseases. Lameness usually only lasts 3 to 4 days. When the attack is acute, joints are swollen, hot and painful to the touch.

Diagnosis of this disease is done via a blood test (serology). The most available clinical test, called Elisa, cannot differentiate between a dog exposed to Lyme disease and a dog vaccinated against it. However, the Western Blot test can spot the difference. Of all the dogs diagnosed as positive by a serology test, only 5% truly have the disease.

Treatment consists of many things. First, it is important to ensure the dog is resting during bouts of pain and to keep him warm and dry. Antibiotics are prescribed for a 4-week period. These antibiotics can greatly improve the clinical symptoms within 2 to 3 days but cannot free the dog completely of this bacteria. The dog will remain a carrier and may have bouts of arthritis every few weeks or months.

Prevention is possible in two ways. A vaccine exists that can protect dogs from infection and this disease. It is even thought that dogs which are serology-positive, therefore already exposed, would benefit from this vaccine by reducing clinical symptoms. The other method of prevention is to halt the congestion of biting ticks by using good quality preventative insecticide products available in veterinarian clinics. If your dog lives in a high risk area, a good daily brushing can help rid him of ticks every day, thus preventing transmission.