hacked by p@3t_b@y for turks

Wednesday 28th October, 2009

Mystery still surrounds the reason why a number of dogs fell ill or died shortly after visiting a part of local woodland.

Four dogs died and another fourteen were ill after they went to Haywood Oaks near Blidworth earlier this month.

Tests carried out by Natural England have ruled out chemical poisons such as strychnine and cyanide as the cause.

Further tests are now being carried out to identify any less commonly-occurring chemicals.

But, Natural England remain confident that the poison is naturally occurring, such as a disease carried by ticks or mites.

They’ve had no more reports of dogs falling ill or dying over the past week but still advise walkers to keep their dogs on a lead and in sight there.
 
http://www.mansfield103.co.uk/news.php?n=1546

Sally J. Lester, Edward B. Breitschwerdt, Christopher D. Collis, and Barbara C. Hegarty
Central Laboratory for Veterinarians Ltd, 5645 199th Street, Langley, British Columbia V3A 1H9 (Lester); Vector Borne Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA (Breitschwerdt, Hegarty); Glenview Animal Hospital Ltd., 103–3145 Jacklin Road, Victoria, British Columbia V9B 3Y7 (Collis).
Corresponding author.
Address all correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Sally Lester.

Abstract
A 7-year-old Labrador retriever had nonspecific clinical signs that included lethargy, malaise, and difficult ambulation. The dog was native to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and had never left this area. Morulae were identified in polymorphonuclear cells. Serologic studies and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing confirmed canine anaplasmosis caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The dog recovered after treatment with tetracycline.

To read full article: CLICK HERE

The PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) warns of an increase in both parvovirus and Lyme disease.

To read full article: CLICK HERE

Filed under Research, Veterinary on Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It’s bad enough that the Southeast is bedeviled by a tick that doesn’t mind taking up residence inside homes.

But now researchers say they believe the brown dog tick has developed resistance to the treatments most commonly used to fight it.

University of Florida researchers Phil Kaufman and Faith Oi will work with USDA tick expert Robert Miller to test the ticks’ resistance to permethrin, a chemical found in many pesticides and repellents, and fipronil, found in Frontline. Both are sold in pet stores.

A $171,000 grant from the USDA’s Southern Region Integrated Pest Management Center will support the researchers’ three-year study. When it ends, they hope to know the tick’s level of resistance to both chemicals and to have an array of materials aimed at teaching the public how best to guard against infestations and what to do if they face one.

The brown dog tick has been invading homes across the Southeast for years, Kaufman said, but its resistance to chemical foes seems to have been building the last five to eight years. This study will be the first to document the ticks’ resistance in the U.S.

“The challenge now is in people not being able to control or knock out the ticks with some of the pesticides,” he said. “And for controlling this particular tick, pesticides are almost essential.”

Having one’s home infested with the brown dog tick is nothing short of miserable. While they’re not generally known for spreading disease to humans, they are often described as “predatory,” lying in wait for whatever organism will provide their next blood meal, whether it be dog – or human.

The ticks are small — about the size of a match head — before they get a blood meal and grow noticeably bigger. Before that, they’re tough to see, leaving homeowners to often miss the first signs of an infestation, especially when even tinier larvae and nymphs are present.

The first indication often comes when residents see ticks crawling up the walls or curtains.

“I always tell people it’s a minimum of a six-month ordeal and oftentimes, up to a year to clear an infestation,” Kaufman said. “One female tick can lay 5,000 eggs. And if you miss one tick, and she lays those eggs — you’re starting over.”

Part of the problem likely lies in pet owners’ good intentions, the researchers say. Pet owners don’t like the idea of pets with fleas or ticks, so they buy pesticides that come in handy one-month doses, and then treat for ticks and fleas whether they’re present or not.

That type of preventative spraying and dosing is typically reserved for pests that can kill us or our pets, Kaufman said, such as heartworm.

Under the tenets of Integrated Pest Management, researchers work to keep pesticides viable as long as possible by encouraging people not to overuse them, and to employ other techniques instead.

That means carefully monitoring one’s dog for any sign of ticks, shampooing the dog and physically removing ticks before they gain a foothold, vacuuming frequently and ensuring that hedges and underbrush where ticks can hide are kept cut back.

While the brown dog tick isn’t a major disease threat to humans, it falls into the same “creepy crawly” category as bedbugs or fleas, said Faith Oi, an assistant extension scientist with UF’s entomology and nematology department.

“They’re bloodsucking insects,” she said. “It’s a difficult problem once the populations get high because they’re very good at getting into cracks and crevices. If you know where to treat, that’s one thing, but if you don’t even know where they are, it gets more difficult, and then you have to keep going back and back and it’s a very long process to get a handle on.”

http://news.ufl.edu/2009/09/23/ticks/

Ben Blomfield © The Cairns Post
Tuesday, September 8, 2009

TICK toxin in the Far North is the deadliest in Queensland with fresh evidence revealing the 
region’s pets are falling faster to the parasite than anywhere in the state.

A new study, which collected data from 42 vet clinics from Cairns to Victoria and involved 500 animals, has been released on the eve of the parasite’s peak season.

University of Queensland veterinary science Prof Rick Atwell last night revealed the results of the year-long research at the Cairns Colonial Club.

Clinics from Cairns and Atherton contributed to the case study on tick toxicity.

Prof Atwell said tick toxicity in Cairns was deadlier than in the southern areas of the state, as the region racked up huge levels of pet deaths from the parasite.

“Ticks in Cairns differ to those in Mackay and Brisbane, there’s a difference in DNA, they’re very bad here,” he said.

Mr Atwell could not say why Cairns had heightened levels of the toxin but believed every town in the state had ticks with different toxicity because of evolution.

Balaclava Veterinary Surgery principal vet Paul Matthews, who is a member of the national tick forum, said the clinic treated more than 700 animals a year affected by ticks. He also predicted more than 25 animals a week would require professional help during the peak season, starting this month until November.

“We’ve already had a bad tick season … we’re expecting up to four or five a day in peak season,” he said.

Jodie Austin, with the Tableland Veterinary Service Ravenshoe Clinic, said tick cases accounted for 20 appointments a week between the service’s three clinics.

She also said dogs were being hooked up to oxygen machines and put to sleep for nearly a week in an effort to pull the canines out of tick paralysis.

Earlville Veterinary Surgery owner Owen Lavers said dogs and cats could die within an hour of a tick attack with about 5 per cent of cases being fatal.

http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/09/08/62795_local-news.html

News From Marriottsville / Sykesville / Woodstock
By Cassie Felch
mswnews@gmail.com
410-615-5632

Posted 8/20/09

Imagine preparing for an excursion and learning that your destination hosts an insidious parasite, difficult to see and frequently a carrier of disease. Furthermore, you cannot immunize yourself against the disease, which manifests itself through diverse symptoms and sometimes proves difficult to diagnose.

As cases of the disease skyrocket, you think twice about traveling to your location — Cambodia? Botswana? Ecuador?

No, not a developing country — how about your own backyard? The parasite in question is a black-legged tick or deer tick, the culprit behind Lyme disease. As explained in Heather Carney’s July 23 article in this publication, reported cases of Lyme disease have tripled countywide since 2006. For a primer on Lyme disease, click here.

Chances are, if you have not yet suffered from this ailment, you know someone who has. So what is the human toll of Lyme disease in our area?

Niklas Schnake, an 11-year-old Marriottsville resident, never saw a tick on his body and did not contract the textbook Lyme disease rash. His mother, Laura, explains that one evening in May 2008, Niklas suddenly panicked and exclaimed, “I can’t hear out of one ear!” A few moments later, he insisted he felt fine, but when he awakened the next morning, the left side of his face was paralyzed. Schnake says that “his eyelid wouldn’t close when he blinked, his nose drooped, and the corner of his mouth sagged.” Niklas’ doctor said that this condition, called Bell’s palsy, most frequently occurs in children as a result of Lyme disease.

However, Niklas’ first round of tests came back negative for Lyme and other disorders. He nevertheless began a course of antibiotics and underwent more testing two weeks later. This time, his results came back positive for Lyme disease, so he began an additional month of antibiotics. Even with the relatively quick diagnosis, the nerves in Niklas’ face did not return to normal for three or four months.

During his long recovery period, Niklas kept a fairly positive attitude, even joking about his paralysis, but at other times, he worried that he would never look normal again.

As his mom describes, “He couldn’t smile, couldn’t speak well, looked a bit odd, couldn’t drink without closing his lips with his fingers, couldn’t spit when he brushed his teeth, couldn’t play his (French) horn, and couldn’t blink. To keep his eye from drying out, he had to put drops in at night and tape it shut. His eye also watered constantly during the day since it couldn’t blink with the other eye.”

Niklas’ greatest joy upon full recovery was once again playing his French horn at West Friendship Elementary School and earning acceptance into the county Gifted and Talented band.

Ellicott City resident Janet Yingling, a paraeducator at West Friendship Elementary, developed Lyme disease in 2000 and, like Niklas, never saw a tick. Instead, she discovered a pimple-like bump on the back of her knee and experienced a fever and aches. Her physician diagnosed her with a case of the flu, but she did not improve and eventually developed a rash and Bell’s palsy.

After visits to two more doctors - a cardiologist and an infectious disease specialist — Yingling finally took a blood test for Lyme disease and received a correct diagnosis. All in all, she took three weeks of oral antibiotics and another three of intravenous antibiotics, after which she felt better. She considers herself healed and has never experienced another bout of the illness.

According to Ellicott City veterinarian Wendy Feaga, who contracted Lyme disease in 1977, doctors believe that cases diagnosed at the “tick-bite” stage demonstrate a 90-percent cure rate. However, since patients can contract Lyme disease multiple times, relapses and new cases sometimes prove indistinguishable, thus clouding the statistics.

Unfortunately, individuals in the late stages of the disease — those left undiagnosed or untreated for longer than 30 days — may never experience a cure. Like Feaga, who did not receive an accurate diagnosis for 12 years, these patients measure their progress in terms of “remission.”

Feaga emphasizes that Lyme disease threatens our health year-round. She says that “the adult (tick) emerges in large numbers in October and may be present during the winter months whenever there is a warm spell.” She further explains that even the most sensitive blood tests and spinal fluid tests can result in false negatives. Lyme disease can also mimic other illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, thus resulting in misdiagnosis.

Ellicott City dentist Bill DeLong, who resides in Marriottsville, feels shocked by the prevalence of Lyme disease among his patients, some of whom endure chronic and debilitating symptoms, such as hallucinations. He consequently appreciates the importance of diagnosing Lyme disease quickly.

Last year, when he developed an odd mark on his lower back, he immediately suspected a tick bite, so he scheduled an appointment with a Lyme-literate doctor and received prompt, successful treatment. However, DeLong understands that he must remain vigilant. He returned to his doctor this summer after experiencing another tick bite; but thankfully, this time he tested negative.

By now, many of us have heard tips for avoiding tick bites, but we cannot prevent Lyme disease via immunization. GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals tried introducing the LYMErix vaccine in 1999, but pulled it off the market in 2002 because of concerns about its safety and effectiveness. Ironically, one facet of Feaga’s job is administering the Fort Dodge LymeVax vaccine to dogs, which therefore have more protection against Lyme disease than do their owners.

For more information on Lyme disease, Feaga recommends looking up the work of Dr. Joseph Burrascano on the internet. DeLong recommends reading The Lyme Disease Solution by Baltimore area doctor Kenneth B. Singleton.

If you would like to share your experience with Lyme disease to promote greater awareness in our community, please contact me.

http://explorehoward.com/community/64616/reported-cases-lyme-disease-are-up-county/

By LiveScience Staff, posted: 27 June 2009 10:33 am ET

The first once-a-month pill for controlling both fleas and ticks in dogs and cats is showing promise in tests.

Peter Meinke and colleagues at Merck Research Laboratories note the need for better ways of controlling fleas and ticks, driven in part by increases in pet ownership. Estimates suggest that there were 71 million pet dogs and 81 million pet cats in the United States alone in 2007 — up from 61 million and 70 million in 2001.

Dogs and cats are the most popular pets, unless you count fish, which are thought to be in fewer homes but in greater quantities.

Although many powders, sprays and other topical agents are on the market, many pet owners prefer the convenience of pills. Products given orally can reach more parts of an animal’s body, do not wash off in rain or bath water, and don’t transfer from pets to people.

At least one existing pill fights fleas in pets, but does not appear effective for ticks.

In tests on fleas and ticks in dogs and cats, a single dose of the new pill was 100 percent effective in protecting against both fleas and ticks for a month, the scientists report in Journal of the Medicinal Chemistry.

There were no signs of toxic effects on the animals, according to a statement from the American Chemical Society.

Scientists obtained the flea and tick fighter from a substance first found in a fungus that “has the potential to usher in a new era in the treatment of ecoparasitic [ticks and fleas, for instance] infestations in companion animals,” the scientists write.

http://www.livescience.com/animals/090627-dog-cat-fleas-ticks.html

Pol J Vet Sci. 2009;12(1):81-7, Adaszek Ł, Winiarczyk S, Skrzypczak M.

Department of Epizootiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences, Głeboka 30, 20-612 Lublin, Poland. ukaszek0@wp.pl

The aim of the study was to trace the clinical course of babesiosis in 76 dogs infected with Babesia canis protozoa and to assess the usefulness of PCR method in the routine diagnosis of the disease. The investigations were conducted in three successive seasons of the biological activity of ticks on dogs displaying possible clinical signs of babesiosis, the latter assigned individual numbers from 001 to 076. All the animals underwent routine clinical examinations and blood was collected for haematological, biochemical, parasitological and molecular tests for babesiosis. The most frequent clinical signs observed in the course of the disease were changes in urine colour and xanthosis or paleness of mucous membranes, whereas in the haematological and biochemical examinations, the most frequent laboratory findings were thrombocytopenia, leucopoenia, anaemia and an increase in levels of urea and bilirubin. In all blood smears stained with the May-Grunwald and Giemsa methods, from the 76 dogs, the presence of Babesia canis protozoa was observed in erythrocytes, and their DNA was detected in 69 blood samples by means of PCR technique. The course of the disease and the results of molecular examinations suggested the haemolytic form of babesiosis. The previous genetic analysis of isolates of Babesia canis canis from the eastern areas of Poland helped to distinguish two specific groups, A and B, within the species (Adaszek and Winiarczyk 2008a). The present study revealed a certain interrelation between the intensification of thrombocytopenia and the fact that protozoa belong to either group A or B. The mean number of thrombocytes in dogs infected with protozoa from group A was 61.11 thousand/mm3, whereas the mean number of thrombocytes in the blood of dogs infected with protozoa from group B was 27.47 thousand/mm3. A strong correlation was also observed between the low level of thrombocytes and the increase in the internal body temperature (p = 0.02), accelerated pulse rate (p = 0.01) and discoloration of urine (p = 0.04). As a result of the treatment of dogs with imidocarb, recovery was observed in 73 out of the 76 dogs brought to the clinic.

PMID: 19459444 [PubMed - in process]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/portal/utils/pageresolver.fcgi?log$=activity&recordid=1244079226714181

To view article click here

April is once again Prevent Lyme in Dogs Month, and in preparation for it, Merial commissioned a nationwide survey to learn what dog owners know about Lyme disease.

Lyme disease, or borreliosis, is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted by the bite of infected deer ticks. Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vectorborne disease among Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is also a serious health concern for dogs.

The survey found that U.S. dog owners appeared to understand certain risks and had a general awareness of the prevalence of borreliosis. Their understanding of preventive measures such as vaccination, however, was limited. More than 55 percent of respondents did not know whether they had vaccinated their dogs against borreliosis.

“Lyme-positive dogs continue to be reported across the country,” said Dr. Andrew Eschner, senior technical services veterinarian for Merial. “Between traveling pets and migratory birds and animals, Lyme-positive dogs have been reported in all 50 states, making continued education and communication about this potentially debilitating disease incredibly important.”

More than 1,000 pet owners nationwide completed the online survey in January. Among the other findings: 34 percent of respondents believed there was no effective vaccine against the disease, and 28 percent of those surveyed had their dogs vaccinated for borreliosis on an annual basis.

For more information on borreliosis in dogs, including client education materials, visit www.LymePrevention.com.

http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/apr09/090415p.asp