Some Snippets
• Confirmed cases of Lyme disease rose from 1.96 per 100,000 people in 2016 to 2.7 in 2017.
• Research that looked at retrospective GP records suggests significant underestimation of Lyme.
• 43% of owners have found ticks on their dog.
• Lyme disease has an incubation period of 2–5 months.
• Exotic diseases, such as Babesiosis and Tick-borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV) have hit the UK.
• A 2018 Public Health England survey showed 4% of ticks carry TBEV.
• Human fatality from TBEV is 1-5%.
• Smothering ticks in Vaseline or alcohol or crushing/burning them increases disease transmission.
• Tick activity can occur at temperatures as low as 4°C.
• Foreign, nasty ticks Dermancentor reticulatus and Rhipicephalus sanguines are invading the UK.
• There is a licensed vaccine for Lyme disease that is effective in dogs.
• Dogs don’t usually show the red ’bullseye’ lesion we associate with Lyme disease.