This cool Lyme Refresher is Not a Drink Recipe!
1.0 CE Credit Hours / Veterinarians
Overview:
Lyme disease, caused by B. burgdorferi, is currently the most common vector-borne disease in the United States accounting for >90% of all confirmed cases of vector-borne disease in humans. While the diagnosis and treatment of a bacterial infection may seem straight-forward, Lyme disease is anything but! In the United States, ticks in the Ixodes genus are the vectors for Lyme disease. An Ixodes spp. tick may become infected from any of the bloodmeals in their life cycle and once infected will maintain the infection through the remaining stages of their life cycle. The Ixodid spp. life cycle is truly complex are quite sensitive to ecosystem dynamics. An incredibly challenging aspect of B. burgdorferi’s biology is the bacteria’s ability to change its outer surface protein, or Osp. Effective vaccination against Lyme disease in dogs eluded scientists for years because the Osp expressed in vitro is totally different than that expressed in vivo. While most seropositive dogs are asymptomatic, two types of clinical presentations are documented. Several diagnostic tests are available for suspected cases of canine Lyme disease however none are truly definitive in the absence of clinical context. Diagnostic interpretation is critical and must be performed including clinical context. As the causative agent of Lyme disease is bacteria, antibiotics are the treatment of choice. The risk profile for infection with B. burgdorferi is fairly straight-forward. If a dog is going to have a reasonable likelihood of exposure to infected vectors (ticks infected with B. burgdorferi), then the dog is surely at increased risk for infection. The key to treating tick-borne disease is often better prevention and B. burgdorferi is no exception. Recommend year-round effective tick prevention and vaccination as dictated by an individual risk-based assessment.
Learning Objectives:
• Review an overview of Lyme disease, including prevalence and transmission.
• Analyze the clinical signs for diagnosing Lyme disease in companion animals
• Evaluate prevention and treatment protocols for Lyme disease within their practice
Jenifer Chatfield, DVM, DACZM, DACVPM
Dr. Jenifer Chatfield is a double-boarded veterinary specialist with a passion for sharing her love of the animal world with others through edu-tainment on multiple platforms. Her YouTube show, “Is this a thing: Veterinary translations for pet owners!” is a great resource for informed pet owners and her podcast and Youtube show, “Chats with the Chatfields” provides side-splitting perspectives through unfiltered and authentic conversations with interesting people from the world of animals. As a national thought leader, she routinely speaks at the nation’s largest veterinary conferences on diversity, zoo medicine, infectious diseases, disaster response, and public health. She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine and has been integral in shaping the peer-reviewed literature for more than 15 years. Her peer-reviewed publications cover a range of topics including pharmacokinetics, wild animal behavior, infectious disease, and assisted reproduction in endangered species. Dr. Chatfield is a diplomate of both the American College of Zoological Medicine (ACZM) and the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM). Learn more at https://drjenthevet.com/.
This program is approved for 1.0 hour(s) of continuing education credit in jurisdictions that recognize RACE® approval.