A simple blood test is all that is required to see if your dog has Ehrlichia. A complete blood count is performed and if there is indication of low clotting factors known as platelets, then there is a strong chance that your dog has Ehrlichia and treatment should be started. The blood sample will then be sent for confirmation at special labs. 

Unfortunately yes. There has been cases where dogs have been re-infected. So prevention is really important

It is very unlikely for people to catch this disease. There have been no human cases in Australia or South East Asia of this strain. 

There are no vaccines for Ehrlichia. 

Ehrlichia is quickly transmitted by ticks. It only takes as little as 3 hours of tick feeding for Ehrlichia to be transmitted from the tick to the dog. Additionally, recent evidence shows that Ehrlichia can be passed from the adult ticks to baby ticks, so once it is in an area, the ticks will continue to transmit this disease. Hence prevention is key to stopping this disease.

Primary preventative - It is important to use a product that repels ticks. Two products have shown to be extremely effective in preventing tick bites and Ehrlichia are SERESTO COLLARS and ADVANTIX SPOT ON. They are over 90% effective in preventing Ehrlichia

Secondary preventative - It is recommended that a back up treatment is used that kills the ticks. Products such as Bravecto and Nexgard are excellent products that kill the tick but take 5 to 24 hours to kill them. So these are not great as a primary product, as they are only about 70% effective.  But when combined with a primary product, it reduces the risk of your dog contracting Ehrlichia even further. 

This disease came from overseas. In mid 2020, Ehrlichia was discovered in Kununurra, WA for the first time. Within a week of its discovery, through the work of our vets, it was found to be in Katherine and Central Australia. And within months, a true picture emerged showing it expanding throughout northern WA and the NT. We were able to look back at cases and believe it may have been around in 2018, but likely not prior to that. We now know we have the South East Asian strain of this disease and somehow it was introduced into Australia. The strain we have is particularly severe, but so far we have seen in the early stages that it can be treated. 

Our clinics in Katherine and Alice Springs continue to investigate treatment options for this horrible disease.

At Northern Territory Veterinary Services, we are seeing many dogs in the NT getting sick from a relatively easily preventable illness. Pups are in particular danger of dying from this disease. What’s an even more concerning development is that we recently are seeing adult dogs succumbing to this horrible illness.  What is it? Hookworms. Yes! Hookworms. There are several worms that can cause health problems but recently hookworms have been rearing their ugly heads. We have seen an unusual number of worm infested dogs, especially puppies. Regular worming is easy to forget but it is so important to keep your pets healthy, both in the young and old.
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So what’s so unusual about this wet season? Well, we see a lot of these infections in the wet as the worms require water droplets to hatch out. So this wet season being particularly big and particularly long, we are seeing heavier burdens and greater number of animals affected.

​What is hookworm?
The hookworm is a particularly nasty parasite (about 3mm long) that hooks onto the inside of the intestinal wall and sucks out a large amount of blood to feed.  Puppies can become infected before birth, through the milk when feeding from their mum, or through the skin from the environment. This worm causes blood loss, weight loss, pain, failure to thrive and in severe cases, death.  Unfortunately, hookworm infestation is usually first noticed when the pup is already very sick with very pale gums, lethargy or bloody diarrhoea. Adult dogs are more resistant but we do diagnose infections in them too, particularly when the environmental conditions are right. They can cause a more slow lingering illness in adult dogs.

Can I catch it?
Hookworm is transmissible to humans. Personal hygiene is always important;- wash your hands after handling your dog and definitely before eating, Hookworm larvae can also hatch out in the yard and then burrow through the skin and cause itching. Children are particularly at risk. 

So how do we do we stop the cycle of infection?
Prevention is the best cure, and regular worming of all your dogs throughout their lives will help stop the vicious cycle of re-infection.
Puppies must be wormed from 2 weeks of age and every 2 weeks until they are 12 weeks old then every month until 6 months of age.  From then on, worming every 3 months is adequate, unless otherwise advised. Talk to one of our veterinarians for further advice. Over time, with regular worming, your dogs can act as vacuum cleaners for the yard and clean up the environment.
Cats don’t get hookworm but they are at risk of other intestinal worms, and so they should have a regular worming routine as well. Luckily for those slightly less sociable puddytats, there are effective top spot all wormers available now from vets. Phew!

​New dog? What to do…
When you pick up a new puppy make sure the breeder gives you information on when the puppy was wormed and what was used. If they cannot do this, it is best to assume the pup hasn’t been wormed. Any new dogs or pups should be wormed as soon as possible to avoid infecting your own yard with worms.
 
If in doubt, just ask
If you have a new puppy or are planning to breed, call into your local veterinary clinic and speak to the staff who can give you the correct advice on prevention and treatment of worms in your dog.

For further information, call us on 08 89723599 in Katherine or 08 89524353 in Alice Springs at Northern Territory Veterinary Services.