American Dog Tick has been in the limelight ever since 1920s when it started spreading its reach to various states of the USA including Idaho, California, Florida and Washington. Native to Rocky Mountains, this reddish-brown tick species, known by its scientific name Dermacentor Veriabilis is an ectoparasite that sucks blood and transmits bacteria to its intermediate and final host. Since racoons, squirrels and mice are quite frequent in wooded, shrubby areas, they become the intermediate hosts for these ticks. These intermediate hosts then transfer the disease to our pets.
Tick LifeCycle
Dermacentor completes its lifecycle in 4 stages- eggs, larvae, nymph and adult. An adult female tick lays hundred of eggs that hatch into 6- legged larvae. These juvenile forms require blood meals at every stage for progression into their 8- legged nymph and adult stage. As the tick transforms into an adult tick, the female tick again lays eggs on a suitable host which then again hatch after seeking the optimum temperatures. This lifecycle of a tick requires at least 54 days and 3 different hosts to complete. However, it can also take up to two years depending on the host availability.
As the adult tick engorges itself with enough blood meal, it releases itself from the host and in 10 days she starts laying thousands of eggs. These eggs hatch into larvae as and when the environment is suitable. The newly formed larvae then crawl on the vegetation and seek for a host which is normally a squirrel or a rat. After taking blood meal from either of these hosts, the engorged larva drops on the ground and molts into the nymph. This nymph then moves out in the quest of another larger host i.e. a racoon or an opossum, takes the blood meal, engorges and detaches itself from the host and transforms into an adult tick.
This adult female tick again crawls in the vegetation and latches itself to the larger animal like dogs or cats as they rub past them, sucks their blood for days or even months and lays hundreds of eggs after mating with the available male tick. A female adult tick can survive in the environment for almost 2 years before mating and thus can cause immense blood loss if stuck to your pet for months, besides also transmitting diseases like Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and Tularemia.
Diseases Spread By American Dog Ticks
How American Dog Tick Spreads Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever?
Well, American Dog Tick serves as a vector for Rickettsia Rickettsii which causes Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) in dogs. The pathogen Rickettsia attacks the peripheral nerves and causes rashes within a few days in the host dog or human. Symptoms usually appear in 4-14 days and usually include – vomiting, diarrhea, fever, nausea, muscle pain, poor appetite, coughing and swelling in the face. The disease may progress causing elevation of liver enzymes, electrolyte abnormalities and erratic platelet count. In extremities, it may even lead to necrosis of the tissue.
Does American Dog Tick Spreads Tularemia and Canine Tick Paralysis?
Yes, they do. Tularemia is also a vector-borne disease caused by the transmission of Francisella tularensis, a gram-negative coccobacillus bacteria into the dog’s body. This pathogen is picked up by American Dog Ticks while taking the blood meal from an infected animal and is then transmitted to another animal the same way. The incubation period of this disease is generally 3-5 days and the symptoms include fever, lethargy, enlargement of lymph nodes, dehydration and loss of appetite.
Apart from that, American Dog Tick also causes Canine tick paralysis. When an infected tick takes a blood meal from the dog, it, in turn, transmits a protein in its saliva. This protein acts as a toxin and causes lower motor neuron paralysis in canines. If this disease is left untreated, it can cause severe respiratory failures, loss of reflexes, unsteadiness, choking and hence may prove to be fatal.
How To Remove Ticks?
Well, you must not try to remove ticks with your hand. Just remove it gently by holding the tick nearest to its mouth and pulling it up using a tweezer. Most importantly, the action should be carried out very slowly so that you don’t break off the head of the tick which is usually dug inside the skin of the animal. Flush the tick immediately or put it in a container with little alcohol for further inspection. Once you have removed the tick from the skin, rub the affected area with an alcohol.
Tick Management in Household
Though ticks normally occur in shrubby, wooded areas, rodents can easily bring them to your yard which is why it is important to eliminate the stuff from your yard that attracts rodents. How will you do that?
• Well, you can easily control the visits of rodents and hence ticks in your yard, by keeping the plants short and lawn shaved.
• Remove all the weeds and clear trash cans.
• Seal all the cracks and crevices to prevent local ticks from visiting your yard.
• Treat your pet with tick preventatives in order to save them from infestation while walking in the yard, dog parks or wooded areas because you certainly cannot stay vigilant all the time.
Queries About American Dog Ticks
Can Dog Ticks Live In Your House?
Yes, ticks can definitely infest your household. Though not all species remain indoors, they can definitely lay eggs and crawl around. Ticks can be easily picked by pets when they go outdoors and thus chances are high that they would bring the infestation indoors as well. Therefore, it is necessary to put your pet on preventatives as preventatives don’t allow ticks to latch on the animal.
Do American Dog Ticks Carry Lyme?
No. American Dog Ticks are not associated with the transmission of Lyme disease. It is only transmitted by deer ticks.
How Long Does a Tick need to be attached to transmit the disease?
It takes almost 24-48 hours for the tick to transfer the bacteria while engorging itself with blood. If the tick is removed within this time frame, chances are it wouldn’t have transmitted the bacteria. However, you must still get the dog checked for any infestation or send the tick for lab tests to determine if the tick carries any sort of infection or not.
How soon after the tick bite do the symptoms appear?
It takes somewhere between 3-30 days for the symptoms to appear after the pet or human has been bitten by a tick and generally manifests in the form of rashes. Other symptoms also include vomiting, diarrhea, itching, loss of appetite as mentioned before.
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