Tick-based Rocky Mountain saw a fever spread in Canada

Here you should know what you should know about preventing, identifying and treating the disease.

What is Rocky Mountain spotted fever?

Rocky Mountain is a disease caused by spotted fever bacteria Ricktsia Ricktsia. Symptoms in humans may include fever, headache, nausea or vomiting, abdominal pain, muscle pain and loss of appetite.

The disease is named for red rash which develops two to four days after the fever starts. Can rash From pinpoint dots to red splots,

The disease can be treated with a normal antibiotic doxycycalon, and most people recover completely.

But it can be fatal in five to 10 percent of cases in the US Even With treatment, US -based Cleveland reports reportsWithout treatment, One in four people die of illness,

Dogs may also get Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Director of Center for Public Health and Zonis at Gulef University, Dr. Scott Wesse said that the symptoms in dogs include fever, unhealthy, increased lymph nodes, loss of appetite and muscle pain that make animals reluctant to move. The rash can sometimes be seen inside the dog’s mouth.

Along with humans, the disease can be fatal in dogs, and Wesse said that one of the first dogs, identified by the disease in Ontario, died.

How is it broadcast?

It cannot be transmitted from person to another. It is obtained only by tick cutting – usually American dog tick ,Demacentor variablebis)Which is found from eastern Alberta to Nova Scotia, especially in the southern parts of those provinces.

They say that despite its name, it does not especially target dogs, but various types of big mammals, including humans.

Earlier, people were not worried about American dog ticks because they did not take Lime disease, people who get from blacklejade or deer tick.

“Now we are changing our tune a little, realizing that this tick could not be as gentle as we thought here,” said Ves.

Like black-foot ticks, American dogs are found in tick grass and wooden areas.

Ticks can hitch and hiccup among dogs or from dogs-they think that the second day happened to her dog at home.

Other ticks carrying Rocky Mountain spotted fever include Rocky Mountain Wood Tick (Dermantoor Anderson) And brown dog tick (Riisfalas sanginus,

Where is the disease found?

The US looks at 6,000 cases per year, especially in the report of Northern Carolina, Tennessi, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, Cleveland Clinic.

In Canada, the disease was known, but rare in BC with the incident A case for 500,000 people in 2019,

Rocky Mountain spotted fever reported in other parts of the country has ever been reported. Was a 73 -year -old woman Diagnosis of disease in 2023 After traveling from Suskechewan to Ontario, and after contacting his son’s two dogs in Ottawa.

Doctors at Ottawa saw the matter, stated that the expansion of the disease is in the areas where it was not seen before, possibly associated with millers veinners and hotter, climate change dryer summer, which allows the ticks to expand their limits.

Earlier this year, a group of cases in dogs were connected to the long point Provincial Park on the Eri Lake in Ontario. Wesse said that such a large group in a small area was a surprise. “It would suggest that it is quite well established, at least in some areas.”

This week, Dr. Alex Carignan, a microbiologist and infectious pathologist, with the Regional Health Authority in Austry, Q. Case reported “recently” in Eastern Township of the province,

Wesse said that the Quebec case has also been acquired locally, raising the question of how far the disease has spread in Canada.

A infectious pathologist Dr. located at Toronto General Hospital. Isaac Bogoch said that Ontario dog infection and detection Ricketsia Bacteria in the ticks north of the border showed that the disease was already in Canada. “The real question is how much it is here and what is geographical distribution.”

He said that other tick-borne diseases such as lime diseases, anaplasmosis, and website have spread more widely in recent years, as small, warm winters allow tick populations to push the north.

What should people do to protect themselves and their pets?

Bogocha and Ways are advised to take precautions to avoid bites from ticks.

This may include living on trails and staying away from places such as long grass and leaf litter; Wearing long sleeves, long pants and insect disturbances can when possible in areas where ticks can occur; Checking ticks on yourself and your dogs after going to such areas; And if found, remove the tick immediately.

Wesse said that people with dogs are at greater risk as they are more likely to walk in high -risk areas of tick exposure and because dogs can sometimes tick the houses in their fur.

Giving oral or topical tick preventive medications to dogs can greatly reduce the risk of exposure, Vessey said. However, it does not replace other measures, and Rocky Mountains cannot be as effective with spotted fever as it is with lime disease, as the east is transmitted more quickly.

Bogoch said that health care workers should know that there are tick-operated diseases beyond the lime, for which they should look out, so that suspected cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be treated immediately.

Wesse recommended that if people or their pets fall ill after going to wood or grass areas, which may have a tick or rock -spotted fever, they should mention the potential risk of their doctor or VET to ensure early diagnosis and treatment.

He also said that while people should know about these diseases, they are still rare in Canada.

“Canada has not been a warm place for any of these ticks or any of their diseases in the past, and they will not be warm places compared to America, but we are a warm location that we were.”