Dogs as sentinels for distribution of spotted-fever group rickettsiae in Slovakia

Recently, countries of Central and Northern Europe, including Slovakia, have experienced an increased incidence of rickettsiae, however, the real impact of rickettsial diseases in Europe is still not known [1,2]. Dogs are important companion animals that are often travelling with their owners and are frequently exposed to ticks infected with various infectious agents causing disease in humans. Thus, dogs gain increasing public attention as they may be indicators for the occurrence and spread of tick-borne diseases, including rickettsioses [3].

Source: Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease - May 22, 2018 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Nat ália Lieskovská, Lenka Minichová, Rastislav Šorf, Eva Gacíková, Erika Vrbová, Mária Kazimírová, Zuzana Sekeyová Source Type: research