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Overwintering of the brown dog tick in residential properties in England – raising awareness PUBLIC Health England (PHE) previously reported a house infestation with the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, in a residential property in Essex during 2014, following the importation of a dog from Spain (Hansford and others 2015). Despite repeated treatment of the property and continued application of tick treatments on dogs within the property, ticks are still being found and submitted to PHE’s tick recording scheme (TRS). Repeated findings of these non-native ticks within the property suggest that a population has established and has been able to overwinter. This continues to represent a biting and potential disease risk to owners and pets within the property (Hansford and others 2014). A second house infestation has also been identified in England. This time, a dog imported from Cyprus was fostered for three weeks at a separate property in Leicestershire during May 2014. The owner consulted a vet on account of an open wound on the dog. Although ticks were noted on the pet, there was no discussion of imported ticks, nor was there any information recorded on whether the dog had received tick treatments before travel. Following treatment, the dog was rehomed. Two months later, ticks were noticed inside the foster property. Between July and October 2014, ticks were removed from the owner’s own dogs on a daily basis despite treatment for ticks being applied. Private pest control advice was also sought but eventually the resident treated the house with insecticides imported from the USA, which appeared to reduce the number of ticks. However, the following spring, tick activity was noted again in the property and the resident contacted Bristol university, where samples were sent as part of the Big Tick Project and identified to be R sanguineus. Subsequent samples were then submitted to PHE’s TRS during May 2015 and identified as R sanguineus, thus confirming the infestation and overwintering of ticks in this property. Overwintering of this species indoors in the UK has not been reported previously, 156 | Veterinary Record | August 8, 2015

Travelling with or importing dogs? Protecting and improving the nation’s health

Important information you need to know about ticks

Your dog may come into the UK with the brown dog tick which can transmit diseases to humans and animals. Unlike ticks in the UK, this species can also live indoors and infest houses.

Many dogs will travel without acquiring ticks but for those that do, you can help protect the health of your dog and yourself by: • seeking advice about ticks from your vet prior to travelling with or importing dogs • remaining vigilant by checking your dog and their bedding, yourself and your home for ticks once returning to the UK • removing ticks found feeding on your dogs or yourself promptly and in a safe way using a tick removal tool or pointed tweezers • contacting your veterinarian if your dog becomes unwell or your GP if you notice that you have been bitten by a tick or start to feel unwell • seeking tick identification and pest control when necessary, should you suspect you have a tick infestation in your home

The brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus)

We are asking members of the public and veterinarians to remain vigilant for imported ticks on recently travelled or imported dogs. It would greatly enhance our understanding of tick importation risk if members of the public and veterinarians could submit specimens to the PHE Tick Recording Scheme for identification.

For more information contact [email protected] or visit www.gov.uk/tick-recording-scheme PHE publications gateway number: 2015173

but was suggested to be possible in the event of harmonisation with EU pet travel rules in 2012, which removed the need for compulsory tick treatment for travelling pets (Jameson and others 2010, Defra 2011, Wall 2012); clearly it is something that will need to be considered for future importation events. PHE has developed an information poster (above) targeting members of the public who may be travelling with or importing dogs into the UK. It is hoped that veterinary practices will help to disseminate this information by displaying this poster in reception areas and by continuing to talk to clients about the risks of travelling with or importing pets. The poster can be downloaded from www.gov.uk/tickrecording-scheme#imported-ticks. We would like to thank all the veterinarians and veterinary nurses who have submitted samples to the TRS. These have helped us to identify 15 separate importation events involving R sanguineus and enable us to carry out important follow-up investigations when necessary. We encourage vets and veterinary nurses to continue to submit samples to the TRS or contact [email protected] if they think they have found an imported tick. Kayleigh M. Hansford, Maaike E. Pietzsch, Benjamin Cull, Jolyon M. Medlock, Medical Entomology & Zoonoses Ecology, Emergency Response Department – Science & Technology, Public Health England, Porton Down SP4 0JG e-mail: [email protected]

Richard Wall, Veterinary Parasitology & Ecology Group, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UG

References

DEFRA (2011) Risk of incursion and establishment of certain exotic diseases and tick species to the UK via international pet travel. www.gov.uk/government/ uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180935/ qra-ticks-110318.pdf Accessed July 23, 2015 HANSFORD, K. M., PIETZSCH, M. E., CULL, B. & MEDLOCK, J. M. (2014) Importation of Rhipicephalus sanguineus into the UK via dogs. Veterinary Record 175, 385-386 HANSFORD, K. M., PIETZSCH, M. E., CULL, B. & MEDLOCK, J. M. (2015) Brown dog tick infestation of a home in England. Veterinary Record 176, 129-130 JAMESON, L. J., PHIPPS, L. P. & MEDLOCK, J. M. (2010) Surveillance for exotic ticks on companion animals in the UK. Veterinary Record 166, 202-203 WALL, R. (2012) A ticking clock for tick-borne disease. Veterinary Record 170, 326-328

doi: 10.1136/vr.h4227

Downloaded from http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/ on July 26, 2017 - Published by group.bmj.com

Overwintering of the brown dog tick in residential properties in England − raising awareness Kayleigh M. Hansford, Maaike E. Pietzsch, Benjamin Cull, Jolyon M. Medlock and Richard Wall Veterinary Record 2015 177: 156

doi: 10.1136/vr.h4227 Updated information and services can be found at: http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/177/6/156

These include:

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Overwintering of the brown dog tick in residential properties in England--raising awareness.

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