BORRELIA: This little
fellow is a spirochete. That means it is a squiggly-shaped organism that lives
in blood. The disease is only transmitted from body to body by blood
transmission. This organism lives in the blood stream of animals and is
transmitted by ticks to other animals. The main carriers of Borrelia are deer
ticks, which we all know, abound in the Village. Deer ticks are not
particular. They will feed on deer, who don’t develop the disease, but are
reservoirs for the disease, and then fall off and go through their cycle of
molting and growing, and conveniently hitch a ride on just about any
warm-blooded critter. These ticks then attach to your doggy or kitty and have
the potential to transmit the disease. Borreliosis, or Lyme Disease, doesn’t
seem to bother our kitty friends. At least, we vets have not connected this
organism to any particular feline disease or symptoms at this point in time.
However, with the introduction of a canine vaccine against Lyme Disease, you
can be sure that many vaccine companies are trying to connect the disease with
our kitty friends also! The deer ticks require three hosts and four different
developmental steps to complete their two year life cycle. Their Spring
nymphal stage and their second year Fall adult stage seem to be the two prime
times. This is presuming our southern ticks are on a Spring-Fall schedule. The
female ticks remain on the host (deer, mice, lizards, etc.,) for five to seven
days. They then fall off, and hibernate through the winter.
TRANSMISSION TO OUR
DOGGY FRIENDS: Fall and early Spring seem to be the most likely times for
transmission of the disease to our canine friends. That , in research
language, does not mean that Summer and Winter are not possible infection
times. That statement only means that the potential is less. Of course, these
researchers are not living in the Village! Our Fall and Spring do continue for
a long time around here! The information maintained by the CDC, Centers for
Disease Control, on dogs indicates a very low infection rate. However, I can
tell you that most of us vets don’t like to talk to the government unless we
have to. So I have spoken with several of the vets in the larger practices in
this area and have found that those vets who routinely run titers for Lyme
disease on our more blue-collar doggy friends find a very high incidence of
high titers for Lyme disease. These particular doggies have a high fever and
have never been vaccinated for Lyme Disease. So I believe the correlation is
accurate.
SYMPTOMS: The disease
causes a transient fever, which may or may not be discovered in time. The
classic symptom is a variable arthritis in our doggy friends. Signs of
lameness come and go. I have seen one documented case of a recurring fever in
a doggy that was tested positive for Lyme Disease here in the Village. I know
that several other doggy friends from the Village have tested positive at some
of the Hot Springs vet clinics. So the disease is here. TREATMENT: Simple
antibiotics will clear up the symptoms if promptly treated. However, the
disease may always be present in your doggy friend and he or she may relapse.
PREVENTION: At this
point , only Frontline and/or a tick dip to prevent the ticks from attaching
to your doggy friend can prevent the disease from being transmitted.
ZOONOSIS: This word
means, we humans can get the disease! This disease is now drawing wide
interest in the medical community as possibly an underdiagnosed condition.
There is now a vaccine for humans against tick fever. There has been a vaccine
for our doggy friends for some years now.
VACCINATION: The Lyme
vaccination for our doggy friends consists of ground-up (macerated) purified
extract of Borrelia. This substance, when injected into our doggy friends,
stimulates an antibody response, which is considered the best way to resist
the disease should a tick make it past all of the defenses.
COMMENTS: Most of the
research and the attempts to diminish the potential of this disease in our
doggy friends is not based upon the conditions here in the Village. I know the
disease is here. The vaccine and tick prevention should prevent this from ever
happening to your doggy friend. If you choose to not vaccinate against Lyme,
that is your risk. Now that we know the disease can be transmitted to humans ,
possibly from our doggy friends, who would want to risk that after we have
worked so hard to get here so we can play! Give your friends a hug for me !
DR. BOB
LYME
DISEASE IN THE VILLAGE: 
