The tick as a disease carrierEverywhere you hear and read that the days are getting warmer, the winter was too mild and the tick now reaches its comfort temperatures. A "tick year" is dawning. Why the tick gets so much attention? Because it is a disease vector of dangerous infections.
Not only you, but also and especially your dog can be bitten by the tick and transmit various types of diseases with their bite. But what exactly are these?
Babesiosis
Babesiosis is a bacterial infection that lives in the intestine of the tick parasitic disease , transmitted exclusively by the tick. Especially animals are affected, mostly cattle and dogs.
The pathogens, babesia, destroy the red blood cells of their host as they multiply. The consequences are diarrhea, vomiting, brownish red urine due to the decay products of the destroyed red blood cells.
Since the red blood cells are responsible for the transport of oxygen in the blood, there is a lack of oxygen. Respiratory distress and unconsciousness of the dog are the consequences. In humans, the disease leads to fever, chills, aching limbs and anemia. However, humans are rather rarely affected by babesiosis.
Carrier of babesiosis are mainly the The forest tick, the brown dog tick and the sheep tick (also: spring forest tick).
Lyme disease
As with babesiosis, Lyme disease is a disease that is transmitted exclusively by ticks. The disease is caused by so-called Borellia , bacteria living in the intestine of the tick.
Only after the bite of the tick they become active and pass on to the host. The Borrelia bacteria spread further and further through the bloodstream of the dog and in particular affect its joints.
Since the symptoms of a Lyme disease infection are very diverse and vary in severity, it can happen that an infection is only noticed at a late stage. If fever, loss of performance, loss of appetite or, in a later phase of the disease, lameness occur after a tick bite, these can indicate a Lyme disease infection.
Unlike babesiosis, humans are also frequently affected by a borreliosis infection. Carrier of Lyme disease is mainly the Common wood tick .
TBE
Dogs are affected by the TBE (early summer meningoencephalitis) virus much less frequently than humans. If the virus does hit the dog, the consequences are usually severe and can lead to the death of the animal.
For humans, the viral disease plays a more significant role, as it can lead to permanent damage of the central nervous system and meningitis.
In contrast to humans, there is no vaccination against the virus for dogs. Carrier of the TBE virus is the Common wood tick . animals before. The bacteria – Ehrlichia – attack the white blood cells. Can reach the organs via the lymph nodes. The bacteria – Ehrlichia – infect the white blood cells. Can reach the organs via the lymph nodes.
Fever, loss of appetite, swelling of the lymph nodes, muscle twitching and shortness of breath are symptoms of ehrlichiosis. Here the visit to the vet is inevitable.
Carrier of ehrlichiosis is the Brown dog tick .
Anaplasmosis
Under the term anaplasma hides Blood parasites , which infect the host's white blood cells and can cause loss of appetite, high fever and fatigue in acutely ill dogs. The symptoms are similar to Lyme disease.
The result is joint inflammation and lameness. Anaplasmosis is particularly characterized by the fact that the disease can reappear after the dog has recovered from the acute disease.