Its a small world.. . The attached article is NOT to scare you - its simply to point out how all of us - folks and critters and the world we live in are very tightly interconnected. Let me introduce you to the Powassan Virus (POW is the CDC abbreivation). The initial thought may be who cares? since there have only been 50 cases or so in the last 10 years and none are in our specific region... at least, not yet. But heres some facts about this virus: 1. Its contracted by a simple tick bite - and unlike most tick borne illnesses (like Lyme), if the tick carrying the virus bites you, you catch the virus instantly. 2. 10% of people who catch this virus die. Period. 50% of those who catch this virus will have long term neurological problems. 3. There is no treatment, no preventive, no vaccine, and no cure. So why do we care? We NEED to care because new diseases are emerging all the time.. and in our global economy, diseases can spread faster than ever before. And while we may not have POW here in East TN (yet), we do have its preferred tick - Ixodes scapularis, more commonly called the deer tick... and it carries PLENTY of nasty diseases that are already prevalent in our region that none of us (or our pets) want to catch. But back to why we need to care in more specifics: In todays generally indoor oriented and, lets all face it, LAZY (me included in that) society, most of us dont actually contract ticks from the woods. Most of us are more interested in the computer, the TV, or the game console than the yard. The primary way we humans get exposed to ticks in this day and age is FROM OUR PETS. Our pets go outside, creep through the thickest brush... or walk over to pee on it because a thousand dogs before have peed there. But unprotected pets can easily pick up a tick and bring it inside. Bear in mind, a tick can live up to 2 YEARS without a meal - they are the ultimate sit and wait parasite - so ticks dont wander into our homes - they ride in. On our pets. Then get off the pets. Then look for other tasty prey. And unlike the regional flea (that prefers cats to all things and any furry mammal to humans), ticks are equal opportunity parasites. Not to mention, if a good TV show is on, were more likely to sit still longer than our pets making us easier to catch by the tick. Now, how do we prevent this? EFFECTIVE TICK PREVENTION on our pets. This doesnt mean applying Parastar (my preferred one) or whatever one youre currently using when we get around to it or every month or so or (as a client told me a few days ago) a couple times a year. This means being insanely religious about getting good, effective tick prevention on ALL your pets with whom you have contact every single month... every month. All year long. (ticks have a better and worse season but here in the South dont have a no tick season.) And this isnt because the veterinary community wants to sell you tick control - its because we are all at risk. POW is coming. A worse disease may already be here. Do you want to be the first case to die from.. whatever... or the thousandth case to get sick from things like Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (the most common tick vectored disease in our region) simply because you let your loving and lovable pet bring you something deadly? Pets get most of these diseases, too (although not, as far as we know, POW). Be smart. Protect your pets from ticks. And protect you and your family from the same. (keep in mind, not all tick products - especially over the counter ones - are safe for cats - CALL YOUR VET!!!) Sorry for the long post... but the world is a scary place.. and we can make it lots safer by simple things like tick control. Ive also included a link to the CDCs webpage on tick disease in humans. As always, feel free to comment with questions or concerns! Kate Zimmerman, DVM cdc.gov/media/matte/2012/05_ticks.pdf (Note that cool map on the CDC pdf... and where we live on it...) hotstove.bangordailynews/2014/05/30/home/the-tick-borne-powassan-virus-you-dont-want-it/
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 21:18:12 +0000
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