How prevalent is Lyme Disease in dogs?
• Lyme Disease has been reported in forty-eight states with the Northeastern and Midwestern states accounting for the majority of cases. Only ten percent of dogs infected with Lyme Borrelia burgdorferi develop clinical signs of disease. Up to seventy percent of dogs that live in the northeastern and midwestern states in the U.S. have serum antibodies to Lyme Disease. Statistically, fifty percent of dogs in the northeast and Midwest are infected annually. 4) How do dogs get Lyme Disease? • Dogs are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium when bitten by an infected tick. At least three known species of ticks can transmit Lyme Disease. However, the most common one responsible for transmitting the disease is the Ixodes Scapularis tick, commonly known as the Black-Legged or Deer tick. These ticks are much smaller than the common dog tick-about the size of a poppy seed. The picture below demonstrates the size differences between the Deer tick and the common dog tick, with a pencil used
