Vets urged to check for babesiosis
Prevention of babesiosis is based on routine use of anti-tick medication and being vigilant and removing ticks from the coat as soon as they are seen.
A veterinary centre in Essex has reported what it believes to be an outbreak of babesiosis.
In a letter to Veterinary Times (Volume 46 No 7), vets from Forest Veterinary Centre in Harlow write that in the past three months they have diagnosed three dogs with the disease.
The dogs were from separate households and contracted babesiosis without ever travelling abroad. Yet a common link between all three is that they are exercised in an uncultivated park area in the town.
“There has been a marked increase in the number of dogs being rescued from abroad into the area, but we are at a loss to know why the requirement to treat dogs for ticks on entry to the UK was relaxed,” they write.
“All clinicians should bear in mind the possibility of babesiosis in anaemic dogs without them necessarily having travelled.”
Babesiosis in dogs is a tick-borne disease which causes anaemia by infecting red blood cells. It is fairly common worldwide and typical signs include weakness, fever and lethargy.
At present there is no vaccine available for babesiosis in the UK. Treatment is focused on killing the parasite and stopping the body’s immune system from destroying more blood cells.
Prevention of babesiosis is based on routine use of anti-tick medication, being vigilant and removing ticks from the coat as soon as they are seen.
In this case, the vets recovered what they believe to be Dermacentor species of tick from two of the dogs.
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
