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Inside NEWS
Photos by DESMOND DEVOY
Festival of the Maples toughs it out
Paying tribute to those killed or injured on the job. — Page P1
News - A little bit of rain and chilly air was not enough to keep the crowds off of Gore Street East on Saturday, April 26, with plenty of smiles to go around. At left, Rene, Jeannette, and Nicolaas Bosman of Providence Point, Lanark Highlands Township, revel in the moment, having won “The Perth Courier Trophy,” for Grand Champion Exhibitor on the main stage on Herriott Street. Above, as children enjoy maple taffy, Neeve Allen, 9, gives it her all with a spinning “Toy from Yesteryear” at The Kettle Boys’ Fortune Farms booth. Please see page P5 for more photos of the annual rite of spring.
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Narrow’s Locks, Last Duel Park lyme-bearing tick hotspots: Vet By DESMOND DEVOY desmond.devoy@metroland.com
Fundraising breakfast gives boost to ‘Champions for Kids’. — Page P7
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News – Otty Lake, Murphys Point, and even Last Duel Park are hotspots for dogs picking up ticks that could carry Lyme disease, according to an area veterinarian. “Murphys Point, Otty Lake, those seem to be some real hot spots,” said Dr. Greg Stephenson of the Blueberry Creek Veterinary Hospital, during the “Too Much Tick Talk, Not Enough Action,” conference at St. John Catholic High School in Perth on Tuesday, April 22. Citing Last Duel Park as another hot spot, Stephenson came armed with his own numbers, culled from his own animal patients over the past few years. Out of 48 dogs tested for Lyme disease in 2012, 11 tested positive. By 2013, out of 77 tests carried out, 15 were positive for Lyme. While only four months into 2014, out of 29 tests carried out thus far, seven dogs have already tested positive for Lyme. Overall, since 2012, of 154 dogs tested, 33 had positive results. “That’s a significant number,” said Stephenson. “That’s a very low representation of the real number out there. That number could easily be 200 if we did screening” on a larger sampling of dogs. Breaking down the numbers across the county, some areas appear more prone to
Lyme-bearing ticks than other areas. By the numbers he has seen at his clinic, the number of dogs testing positive for Lyme, taken from a recent sampling, break down like this: • McDonalds Corners: 2 • Christie Lake: 3 • Maberly: 2 • Narrow’s Locks: 9 • Elmsgrove: 5 • Perth: 6 • Balderson: 1 • Westport: 1 • Rideau Ferry: 2 “These (numbers) are not scientific,” Stephenson cautioned. “They will not be published in a scientific journal.” He also pointed out that Perth’s numbers may actually be rural addresses that are listed as Perth, and could well be cottagers. The Westport numbers could also be smaller than they actually are because “they are on the periphery of my practice.” The numbers for Balderson, however, were found to be “very low.” His hospital was opened in the spring of 2012, and 2,600 pets, including 1,400 dogs, have been seen by the vets on staff. Of that number, 154 blood parasite tests were run on the dogs. By the provincial numbers, in 2013, about 711 Ontario dogs tested positive for
Photo by DESMOND DEVOY
Dr. Greg Stephenson, of the Blueberry Creek Veterinary Hospital, speaks out on ticks on April 22. Lyme disease – though, again, Stephenson cautioned that these numbers were “self-reported.” Even at that, of those 711 cases, 93 were within 50 km of Perth, and 430 were within 100 km of Perth – though that takes in Kingston, Ottawa, Brockville and the St. Lawrence River area. “It’s over half the province,” he said of the 100 km numbers. Since Lanark County is cottage country, apart from maple syrup, another county export could be Lyme disease, with dogs native to Ottawa picking up the ticks in the county, at the cottage, before returning home.
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Overall, at his clinic, “We are seeing an increase in ticks on dogs and cats too,” he said. “It tends to be two to five months, post-bite, when we see symptoms.” Another problem with treating Lyme disease is that, in field studies, only 20 per cent develop clinical signs, and eight out of 10 dogs don’t require treatment. For dogs that do need treatment, they usually go through a 28-day course of drugs. He also reported that vaccinations have a 92 per cent prevention rate, and that the best time to administer the vaccine is when the dog is a puppy. “Dogs are family members,” said Stephenson. “They are on the bed, they are with the kids, they are cuddling up. It takes about 24 hours for a tick to find a place to feed.” On a dog, that usually means choosing a spot under its neck or around the ears – plenty of time for the tick, with the movement of the dog, to fall off, and attach itself to a human. “Lyme does not appear to be contagious, dog to human,” added Stephenson. Drugs like Advantix and Revolution were found to be very effective (99 and 92 per cent respectively) but that collars were not as effective, at only 90 per cent, at keeping ticks at bay. With collars, “we have not had great success with them. They tend to loosen over time,” he said.
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