Taking the sting out of tick bites: Baykomm - Bayer Communication Center

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Taking the sting out of tick bites

Tick bites and the awful consequences they can have for both humans and animals are a hazard that is still underestimated all too often. But experts have been warning us for a long time. Professor A. Liebisch from the Laboratory for Clinical Diagnostics in Burgwedel, for example, warns: ”All over the world, ticks are playing an increasingly important role as vectors of disease.”

Small and mean: a tick in the fur of a four-legged friend.

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Small and mean: a tick in the fur of a four-legged friend.

But what sort of public enemy are we talking about, and where is it lurking? Dr. Olaf Hansen, a veterinarian working for Bayer HealthCare, explains: ”The most common type of tick in our part of the world is known as the sheep tick or European castor bean tick.” This biting tick is a member of the arachnid family. It hides in undergrowth, in mixed forests, at the edges of paths and even in parks, and in the warmer months from April to October it drops onto passing mammals and birds, crawls through their fur or plumage and sinks its biting parts firmly into their body. This can have fatal consequences: if the tick is infected with the Borrelia bacteria that cause Lyme disease, for example, the bacteria are washed into the wound and the animal’s circulation, sometimes together with the contents of the mini-vampire’s intestines, while it is sucking blood. The bacteria can then start to wreak havoc inside their involuntary host, and even remain undetected for some time. ”The initial symptoms are very unspecific, and the disease is as difficult to identify in animals as it is in humans,” says Bayer’s expert Dr. Hansen. Once it is diagnosed, the vet has to prescribe medication because the only way of getting Borrelia out of the dog’s system is with a long course of antibiotic therapy. But even then, late complications may develop; symptoms can recur years after the initial infection.

It's springtime! But there's more than just sunshine and fresh greenery outside. Ticks hide in wayside vegetation, lying in wait for man's best friend.

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It’s springtime! But there’s more than just sunshine and fresh greenery outside. Ticks hide in wayside vegetation, lying in wait for man’s best friend.

The probability of our four-legged friends being attacked by an infected tick is unfortunately very high. Experts estimate that in some parts of Germany up to 30 percent of these arachnids are infested with Borrelia.

What can we do about it? Hansen emphasizes that ”it would be completely wrong to keep the animal on a short lead”. Dogs need plenty of exercise, and it’s better for the owner to take the time after a walk in the countryside to brush out the fur thoroughly and to look for parasites. Bayer’s expert also recommends vaccination against Borrelia for all dogs over 12 weeks of age. But caution is needed: ”The vaccination provides good basic protection but not full protection because there are different types of Borrelia.” This is why vets recommend that vaccination should be backed up by Kiltix or special Bolfo tick collars. ”The active ingredients in these collars protect the dog for months against tick bites without putting the animals, their owners or the environment at risk,” Hansen explains.