Tachycardia and weak pulse Haemoglobinuria

Disseminated intravascular coagulation ( DIC ) leading to thrombocytopenia and coagulopathy

Organ failure Coma / death

Thirst / anorexia Lethargy Death

Treatment

Antiprotozoals such as imidocarb , diminazine aceturate ( although there are toxicity issues ), phenamidine and Trypan blue are available . Spot-on treatments to prevent ticks tend to be more efficient .

Control and / or prevention

Early detection will help to reduce the severity of the disease . Therefore , owner awareness and checking for ticks on a daily basis is essential . Regular tick treatments are important to prevent ticks attaching to the host . Owners with untreated dogs should avoid areas with a high risk of tick exposure and should have an awareness of the seasonal effects on tick activity . Schemes to reduce the tick population can be implemented .

Conclusion

Babesiosis , a tick-borne disease , can affect dogs worldwide . Dermacentor reticulatus ticks from mainland Europe can infect dogs in the UK . Fortunately , D . reticulatus and B . canis have not yet become established in the UK . However , this makes it all the more important to detect and treat the sporadic cases of canine babesiosis to help prevent the disease becoming endemic in the UK .

REFERENCES

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2 Hillyard PD . Ticks of North-West Europe . Shrewsbury : Field Studies Council ; 1996 .

3 Gray JS . Biology of Ixodes species ticks in relation to tick-borne zoonoses . Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift . 2002 ; 114 ( 13 – 14 ): 473 – 478 .

4 Kjelland V , Ytrehus B , Stuen S , Skarpaas T , Slettan A . Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from moose ( Alces alces ) and roe deer ( Capreolus capreolus ) in southern Norway . Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases . 2011 ; 2 ( 2 ): 99 – 103 . Available from : https :// doi . org / 10.1016 / j . ttbdis . 2010.12.002 .

5 Ruiz-Fons F , Fernández-de-Mera IG , Acevedo P , Höfle U , Vicente J , de la Fuente J , et al . Ixodid ticks parasitizing Iberian red deer ( Cervus elaphus hispanicus ) and European wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) from Spain : geographical and temporal distribution . Veterinary Parasitology . 2006 ; 140 ( 1-2 ): 133 – 142 . Available from : https :// doi . org / 10.1016 / j . vetpar . 2006.03.033 .

6 Ogden NH , Lindsay LR , Hanincová K , Barker IK , Bigras-Poulin M , Charron DF , et al . Role of migratory birds in introduction and range expansion of Ixodes scapularis ticks and of Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Canada . Applied and Environmental Microbiology . 2008 ; 74 ( 6 ): 1780 – 1790 . Available from : https :// doi . org / 10.1128 / AEM . 01982-07 .

Additional resources

Ruedisueli F . Animal Disease . Available from : http :// www . animaldisease . org [ Accessed 14 March 2023 ].

Greene CE . Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat . 4th ed . St . Louis : Elsevier ; 2012 .

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