This is what you need to know to prevent, identify and treat the disease.
What is the spotted fever of the rocky mountain?
Rocky mountain fever is a disease caused by bacteria Rickettsia Ricketssii. He is named after the first time identified in the valleys of Rocky Mountain of Idaho and Montana in the 1890s.
Symptoms in humans can include fever, headache, nausea or vomiting, stomach pain, muscle pain and lack of appetite.
The disease is named after the red eruption that develops two or four days after the fever begins. The eruption can Rank from precipitated points to red spots.
The disease can be treated with common antibiotic doxycycline, and most people recover completely.
But it can be deadly in five to 10 percent of cases in the US. The Cleveland Clinic with headquarters in the United States reports. No treatment, One in four people dies of the disease.
Scientists say that ticks are appearing in places that were not before, so Canadian researchers are resorting to new methods to stop tick populations and their impact.
Dogs can also obtain rocky rocosa fever.
Dr. Scott Weese, director of the Center for Public Health and Zoonosis of the University of Guelph, said that symptoms in dogs include fever, discomfort, enlarged lymph nodes, loss of appetite and muscle pains that make animals reluctant to move. The eruption can sometimes be seen inside the dog’s mouth.
As with humans, the disease can be deadly in dogs, and Weese said that one of the first dogs identified with the disease in Ontario died of it.
How is it transmitted?
It cannot be transmitted from person to person. It is only acquired from tick bites, usually the American Dog ICT (Demacentor variabilis)which is located from East of Alberta to Nueva Scotia, especially in the southern parts of those provinces.
Weese says that despite his name, he does not point to dogs specifically, but to a variety of large mammals, including humans.
Previously, people did not care about the ticks of American dogs because they did not carry Lyme’s disease, which people get from the tick or deer tick.
“Now we have to change our song a bit, realizing that this tick might not be as benign as we thought about here,” Weese said.
Like black leg ticks, American ticks are found in grass and forest areas.
The ticks can also get hooked between dogs or dogs to humans, something that Weese believes that it happened the other day with their own dog at home.
Other ticks that can transport Rocky Mountain stained fever include rocky wooden tick (Dermacentor Andersoni) and the tick of the brown dog (Rhicephalus Sanguineus).
Where is the disease?
The United States sees 6,000 cases per year, especially in North Carolina, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, reports the Cleveland Clinic.
In Canada, the disease was known but rare in BC, with an incidence of One case for every 500,000 people in 2019.
Dr. Samir Gupta, a headquarters with headquarters in Toronto, warns an increase in ticks and diseases transmitted by ticks throughout Canada. The ticks are parasites that feed on the blood of wild animals and it is known that they transmit bacteria through the bites.
Occasional cases of rock -spotted fever have been reported in other parts of the country. A 73 -year -old was Diagnosed with the disease in 2023 After traveling from Saskatchewan to Ontario, and be in contact with his son’s two dogs in Ottawa.
Ottawa doctors who saw the case said that the expansion of the disease to the north in areas where it had not been seen before was probably linked to softer and more dry and dry winters linked to climate change, which allow the tarrapats to expand their reach.
Earlier this year, a group of cases in dogs was linked to the Long Point Provincial Park in Lake Erie in Ontario. Weese said such a large group in a small area was a surprise. “That would suggest that this is quite well established, at least in some areas.”
The morning edition – KWDisease transmitted by coat stained rocky fever found in a long point
Grand Erie Public Health is warning the public about Rocky Mountain’s stained fever. The disease can be potentially deadly for animals and humans if it is not detected early. The Professor of Public Health at the University of Waterloo, Zahid Butt, explains how climate change and warmer temperatures are a factor for tick -transmitted diseases.
This week, Dr. Alex Carignan, microbiologist and specialist in infectious diseases of the Regional Authority of Health in Strie, which., A “recent” case reported in the municipalities of the East of the Province.
Weese pointed out that the case of Quebec also seems to have been acquired locally, asking questions about what extent the disease has spread in Canada.
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, a specialist in infectious diseases based in the General Hospital of Toronto, said the infections of Ontario Dogs and the detection of Rickettsia Bacteria in the ticks north of the border had shown that the disease was already in Canada. “The real question is how much is here and what is the geographical distribution.”
He added that other diseases transmitted by ticks, such as Lyme’s disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis, have spread more widely in recent years, since the shortest and most warmer winters allow tick populations to push north.
What should people do to protect themselves and their pets?
Both Bogoch and Weese recommend that people take precautions to avoid being bitten by ticks.
This may include remaining on paths and far from places such as long grass and leaf litter; Use long sleeves, long pants and insect repellent when possible, while in areas where ticks may be; reviewing the ticks on themselves and their dogs after visiting those areas; and eliminate ticks immediately if you are.
Weese said that people with dogs have a higher risk because they are more likely to walk in areas with greater risk of tick exposure and because dogs can sometimes take ticks to homes in their fur.
Giving dogs oral or topical preventive drugs can greatly reduce the risk of exposure, said Weese. However, it does not replace other measures, and it may not be so effective with Rocky Mountain fever as with Lyme’s disease, since the first one is transmitted more quickly.
Bogoch said that health workers must take into account that there are diseases transmitted by ticks beyond Lyme that they must take into account, so that suspected cases of rocky spotted fever can be treated immediately.
Weese recommended that if people or their pets get sick after visiting forested areas or grass covers that could have coat of rocky mountain stains or fever, they must mention the possible exposure to their doctor or veterinarian to ensure rapid diagnosis and treatment.
He also pointed out that, although people should be aware of these diseases, they are still rare in Canada.
“Canada has not been the hot point for any of these ticks or their diseases in the past, and they will not be the hot point compared to the United States, but we are a hottest place than us.”
