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Tick-borne dog disease tough to spot
BY BRYAN BRASHER, Staff Writer
Every once in a while, Dr. Hank Hall of Northside Animal Hospital in Columbus examines a dog suffering from what he calls "ADR."
Though it sounds like a much more technical term, it actually stands for "Ain't Doin' Right" -- and it's one of the major warning signs of a subtle, but serious tick-borne disease known as canine ehrlichiosis.
Dogs infected with canine ehrlichiosis often become lethargic and lose weight steadily. They lose interest in their daily routines and sometimes develop immune deficiencies that lead to greater problems.
The disease is debilitating for some, deadly for others -- and it's much more common in the Chattahoochee Valley than many pet owners realize.
"We see it in about 10 to 20 percent of the population that's tested," Hall said. "It's tough to diagnose by just looking at the animal. There's no hemorrhaging or anything like that. The dogs just become poor doers. They just don't act right."
Canine ehrlichiosis first achieved fame during the Vietnam War when many of the dogs used by the United States military contracted the disease. Some scientists believe the disease made its way into the country when ticks known as brown dog ticks hitched rides from Vietnam back to the mainland on American soldiers.
The brown dog tick -- the primary carrier of canine ehrlichiosis -- now has one of the most widespread populations of any tick species in the United States. Unlike deer ticks, which transmit Lyme disease and are rarely found this far south, brown dog ticks are prevalent throughout the Southeast. During 2003, Georgia ranked among the top 10 states in the nation for cases of canine ehrlichiosis.
While most tick-borne diseases pose their greatest threat during the hot summer months, the chronic nature of canine ehrlichiosis can cause problems for dogs throughout the year. A dog bitten in June may not develop symptoms until the holiday season, and the symptoms may come and go sporadically.
The disease flourishes in Georgia and throughout the Chattahoochee Valley because of mild fall temperatures, relatively short winters and because brown dog ticks have adapted to complete their entire life cycles indoors. That means hunters venturing into the woods now for Georgia's early deer season and people venturing out to enjoy the recent cooling temperatures could be bringing the disease home to their pets.
"We sometimes have trouble convincing people that humans can bring things inside," Hall said. "But humans bring fleas and ticks into the house all the time without realizing it. If your pet goes outside even for a little while, chances are, it's bringing things inside, too."
Very Treatable
According to Dr. Rick Alleman, an associate professor of clinical pathology at the University of Florida, there have been a few documented human cases of canine ehrlichiosis, but not in the United States. And though it is frighteningly easy for a dog to acquire canine ehrlichiosis, the disease is treatable -- and more importantly, preventable.
"If your dogs don't get any ticks, they won't get the disease," Alleman said. "It's just one more reason on a long list of reasons to protect your dogs from ticks."
No one knows why, but German shepherds seem to be particularly susceptible to the disease. This means that many extensively and expensively trained police dogs and seeing eye dogs are at a greater risk.
Hall recommended several measures for tick prevention.
"Advantix for dogs, Frontline for dogs -- anything that has a tick label that will kill ticks," Hall said. "There's a also great collar out there called a Preventic collar, which kills the ticks and makes them detach."
IDEXX recently developed a three-in-one test that checks simultaneously for heartworms, borrelia burgdorferi and canine ehrlichiosis. Hall has made the test a routine part of his annual exams for dogs.
If a dog is diagnosed with the disease it can be treated easily with Tetracycline and its derivative, doxycycline.
"I diagnosed a dog with the disease just last week -- a dog whose owners had no idea it had the disease," Hall said. "We put the dog on a three-week course of medication, and hopefully, in three weeks the disease will be gone.
"Just because your dog contracts this disease doesn't mean it's going to die. But the animal is certainly better off without it."
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