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Lyme Disease and Dogs |
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Most
dogs, even though they have been exposed to Borrelia
burgdorferi, never exhibit any signs of Lyme disease.
In certain highly endemic areas of New York and New Jersey dogs
exhibit almost a 90% rate of exposure as evidenced by serosurvey.
However, only about 4% of the dogs exhibit signs of Lyme disease
including lameness, poor appetite and fever.
Treatment of these animals with antibiotics typically results
in A few dogs can develop lesions on the kidneys (Lyme nephropathy) and may not respond toantibiotic treatment. Interestingly, dogs susceptible to this condition may not be protected by the Lyme vaccines currently available. In fact, there are concerns that the vaccine may possibly sensitize a genetically predisposed individual to having a more intense immune-mediated reaction to Lyme antigens, or the vaccine may add to antigen-antibody complex deposition in tissues (Meryl P. Littman, VMD, DACVIM, University of Pennsylvania).
Lyme
Disease Website Directory Penn
State Entomology Directory Site
Administrator
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rapid
recovery.