| ALERT: BROWN DOG TICK EHRLICHIA, IN LORETO |
Brown Dog Tick --- called "tick fever" or "Ehrlichia"
..... Several dogs have died recently because of this virus. It is
common in most animals and is fatal if not treated. Ehrlichia has been
present in the Baja for many years but it comes and goes with its
presence on a large scale. Well, it's back. Symptoms include fever,
lethargy, weight loss, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. The dog can be treated
with Doxycycline or Minocycline which local vets, have
on hand. Doxycycline is available at Similares (over the counter last time I bought it last year.) If you notice any of these symptoms, you need to take action
immediately and get your dog to a local vet. Applying a tick preventative
liquid, a shot or pills will help to control the ticks but does not
control the ticks 100%. The dogs that have recently died and acquired
this virus were all on monthly tick medicine. Also, local vets have a
pesticide that can be sprayed in your yard to control the ticks that
breed.
"I am VERY familiar with this problem in
Loreto. This is what our dog Dewey almost died of in October 2003. As I
discussed with Denise some time ago, it is the largest silent killer of
dogs in Loreto I am sure, and has been for a long time. In 2003 I
collected guina (tick nymph) samples, had the lab in Loreto prepare
sildes. I brought the samples back to the
canine ER in Santa Barbara and did a HUGE amount of research. Dewey was
put in intensive care for 3 days and cured by massive amounts of: IV
fluids; Doxycycline; Baytril; and Amoxicillin.
FYI the fever
is transmitted by the "guina" or nymph stage of the deer tick. (This is
the second stage of a tick's three-staged life. The first stage feeds
of blood left by the engorged dead mother tick). Guina, the second
molt stage of a DEER tick's life cycle, bites and feeds once briefly,
and does not engorge with blood. Guina are hard to see, particularly on
dark-haired dogs, and they look about like a tiny single grain of
pepper. There are usually dozens of them on an animal at the same time.
Hard to impossible to see with the naked eye. After they feed, they
drop off into the dirt, molt, and then eventually attach again to
another host and become the adult tick we are all familiar with. Dirt
yards should be professionally sprayed by the fumigator to kill guinas.
They gather in gravel, around the base of rocks, etc. Frontline does
not work, because once the guina bites and "realizes" the host
blood/food is "bad" (from Frontline or other chemical compounds), they
have already passed on the virus in their bite. The dog's white blood
count goes through the roof, and red blood cells drop, in most cases,
fatally. A symptomatic dog will not get up. Just lie there and die.
I
am very relieved this problem is out in the open and people are
learning about it! I'm really sorry people had to lose their dogs to
learn more."
Marla Daily
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Ehrilichia es una enfermedad que infesta los perros.
Este organismo es microscopico y entra las garrapatas. Las garrapatas
pican lost perros, y despues de un dia, el organismo ehrlichia puede
entrar el cuerpo del perro. Usualmente, despues de unos dias, el perro
estara enfermo. El tiene una fiebre, esta apatico, y no quiere comer
mucho. Frequentamente, Los perros sangran y pueden morir
desangrados. Despues de unos dias, estes perros puedan recobrar la
salud. Pero muchas veces, ellos moren. Felizmente, hay un tratamiento
por esta enfermidad. El antibiotico Doxycyline, puede ayudar los
animales a recobrar la salud.
En Loreto, muchos perros tienen ehrlichia. Es
posible que a veces durante el ano, quando hay muchas garrapatas, mas
perros vuelven enfermos do que otro tiempos del ano. Pero, nosotros
sabemos que ehrlichia es endemico, es decir que esta enfermidad siempre
quedan en este area del pais. Felizmente, es posible tambien prevenir
esta infeccion. Hay muchos productos que matan las garrapatas. Unos
productos evitan la picadura de las garrapatas. Estes se llaman
repelentes antiinsecticos.
Si ustedes piensen que sus perros estan enfermos, por
favor se pone en contacto con Animalandia. El clinico tiene el
antibiotico y unos productos que matan las garrapatas.
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