A North West vet is warning pet owners of a new tick outbreak affecting dogs in Outback Queensland.
Gulf Veterinary Services director and veterinarian Zoe O'Brien has detected two cases of Ehrlichia canis (E. canis), a tick borne disease in dogs, in Normanton and is urging pet owners to put prevention methods in place to stop their animals from getting sick.
"E. canis is a tick-borne disease, typically found on the brown dog tick, and has been in Australia for about two years, however we haven't seen many cases of it in Queensland up until this year," Dr Zoe said.
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"We didn't have any confirmed cases in Normanton until a month ago, and we currently have two positively diagnosed cases, but I do believe there is a lot more undetected in the area.
"I've had people contact me saying their animal has been baited, but when they explain symptoms it is more likely the animal is affected by E. canis."
Symptoms of the disease include lethargy, eye or nasal discharge, cloudy eyes, history of having ticks, bruises or abnormal bleeding from nose or bum.
"There are three different forms of E. canis, acute, subclinical and chronic," Dr Zoe said.
"The acute form can show up within 1-3 weeks of being infected by a tick. The next stage is subclinical where they may not show too many signs and then finally chronic stage becomes more fatal. The sub-clinical and chronic stage can vary from months to years of having the disease."
Dr Zoe said a case of E. canis was detected in Mount Isa in January 2022, and believes it has spread to other communities including Normanton.
"Mount Isa detected its first case earlier this year and from there with dogs travelling and tourists moving about, it is spreading and will keep spreading and impacting dogs until it hits the east coast," she said.
"These ticks live in the soil and like to come out with moisture. So after some unseasonal late rain in May, we are seeing the disease infecting animals."
Dr Zoe said preventing animals from getting the disease was easy and simple, keeping up to date with tick prevention.
"Chewables are good but not really working in our dog population in Normanton, because they're such a nave population and our dogs have never seen something like this before. Also the tick has to bite the dog to be penetrated by the dog and it still becomes infected.
"A tick collar is currently the best prevention. The collar repels the ticks and stop the them from getting on the dog and infecting them. These collars cost about $65, are waterproof and can last four months before needing to be replaced."
Dr Zoe said action needed to be taken now, so clients could better their animals health.
"We need to be onto it, we are not trying to scare people. It is a treatable and antibiotics for a month can cure the disease but only if caught early.
"We don't really know what the long term affects will be on the dogs that it infects, so prevention is better then cure."
In February 2021, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries reported there were no cases of E. canis in the state.
The North West Star has contacted DAF for comment.
Samantha Campbell
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Samantha Campbell (nee Walton) has worked for regional and rural publications across New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. She is currently writing for the North Queensland Register based in North West Queensland. Email: samantha.campbell@austcommunitymedia.com.au
