Tick-borne encephalitis virus in dogs - is this an issue?

Abstract

The last review on Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in dogs was published almost ten years ago. Since then, this zoonotic tick-borne arbovirus has been geographically spreading and emerging in many regions in Eurasia and continues to do so. Dogs become readily infected with TBE virus but they are accidental hosts not capable to further spread the virus. They seroconvert upon infection but they seem to be much more resistant to the clinical disease than humans. Apart from their use as sentinels in endemic areas, however, an increasing number of case reports appeared during the last decade thus mirroring the rising public health concerns. Owing to the increased mobility of people travelling to endemic areas with their companion dogs, this consequently leads to problems in recognizing and diagnosing this severe infection in a yet non-endemic area, simply because the veterinarians are not considering TBE. This situation warrants an update on the epidemiology, clinical presentation and possible preventions of TBE in the dog.

Dynamics of Ticks’ Infestation With Borrelia Genus Bacteria and Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus in Kirov Region

“…Таким образом, трансмиссивные заболева-ния опасны как для человека, так и для домаш-них животных [8]. Кроме того, кошки и соба-ки тесно контактируют с человеком, и не уда-ленный вовремя клещ может переместиться с животного на человека и стать причиной за-болевания в результате уже следующего укуса другого хозяина.…”

“…Клещевой энцефалит и клещевой боррели-оз -это наиболее известные и распространен-ные трансмиссивные заболевания человека, кроме того оба этих заболевания диагностиру-ются и у домашних животных [8].…”

“…В органах Роспотребнадзора на наличие воз-будителей клещевого боррелиоза и клещевого энцефалита исследуют только клещей, снятых с человека, однако данные заболевания выяв-ляются не только у человека, но и у домашних животных [8]; кроме того домашние животные тесно контактируют с человеком, и зараженный клещ может переместиться с животного на че-ловека и при укусе стать причиной заболевания.…”

It shouldn’t happen to a dog … or a veterinarian: clinical paradigms for canine vector-borne diseases

“…Pet dogs may therefore contribute information about the infection risk for people in a given area, either through serological test results that indicate exposure to vector-borne zoonotic pathogens [64][65][66], or as 'tick magnets' that reflect the local pathogen-vector ecologies when subjected to molecular screening [29,67]. Dogs are known to be sentinels for Lyme borreliosis, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis in people [66,68,69], and it has been suggested they might also serve as sentinels for tick-borne encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis virus in Europe [70]. The value of using dogs to unearth new information was highlighted during a nationwide serological survey of vector-borne pathogens in the USA during which two unexpected foci of E. canis reactivity were detected in dogs in Wisconsin and Minnesota [71].…”

“…With regard to vector-borne zoonoses it is conceivable that the close association owners have with dogs may place them at increased risk of environmental exposure to pathogen-laden ticks, fleas, or other arthropod vectors. On the one hand, leisure activities in rural areas such as walking a dog [70] are risk factors for acquiring vector-borne diseases, primarily because of increased exposure to questing ticks of all stages. On the other hand, arthropod vectors brought into or attracted to the home by dogs may inadvertently bite humans sharing this space.…”