Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is caused by a spiral-shaped bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It is spread by the deer tick (genus Ixodes). Signs of Lyme disease include lameness, swollen joints, fever, and lethargy (mopiness). Less common but more serious manifestations include nephritis (kidney infection)and encephalitis (brain infection).
We have found Lyme disease to be very prevelent in our practice area of York County Maine. As a result we are recommending Lyme vaccination for all dogs with a lifestyle that exposes them to ticks. This requires two administrations of the Lyme vaccine 2 to 3 weeks apart followed by annual booster vaccination.
Since the of spring 2004, the DMVC is using Idexx's highly sensitive 3DX test as our annual parasite screening test. The 3Dx tests for heartworm disease, Lyme disease and a third less common tick-born disease, Ehrlichia. For dogs testing positive to Lyme disease, vaccination and a 30-day course of antibiotics is recommended regardless of whether or not symptoms are present.
We also recommend using Frontline to limit tick exposure.