Tick Tidbits: Ticking off the 5 W's on These Tiny Troublemakers

Course overview

Ticks pose a significant health risk to companion animals, both as blood-feeding parasites and as vectors for numerous pathogens. Over the past few decades, tick populations have expanded and intensified due to factors such as increased globalization, greater movement of humans and animals, and climate change. In the United States, common tick species-including the blacklegged tick, lone star tick, American dog tick, and brown dog tick-have the potential to transmit a range of bacterial, protozoal, and viral pathogens. Serological data indicate that tick-borne pathogens are a persistent challenge for dogs, with U.S. canines frequently testing positive for agents of anaplasmosis, Lyme disease, and ehrlichiosis. Many of these same ticks and pathogens also pose a public health risk, as the tick species that commonly bite dogs can also transmit these same pathogens to humans. As a result, dogs can serve as valuable sentinels for tick-borne disease risks of their human families. Despite awareness of the risks ticks pose to pets, ticks are often and easily overlooked. Given that ticks are a year-round threat in most regions, annual testing and the routine use of fast-acting tick control products play a critical role in protecting pet health by killing ticks and reducing pathogen transmission risk.