Your Pet and Its Unwelcome Visitor

Have you experienced the peace and satisfaction that comes with petting a dog? I am not saying people who pet other animals do experience such peace, but for this post, just allow me to enjoy the moment and bear with me. While you pet your dog, you could be petting another neighbor who is living rent-free on your dog’s body or in your house and that's the Brown Dog Tick.

flickr

This tick is the most widespread in the world found everywhere, including living with us. We humans are good neighbors and we allow so many organisms to live with us The Brown dog tick is one of those neighbors but unfortunately, it is responsible for transferring a bacteria that can be deadly to both our lovely dogs and us. Ticks are generally not great guests because they are known to transfer one disease or the other to both animals and humans like the blacklegged tick which is responsible for causing Lyme disease.

It's funny how these our guest expect us to house them as well as feed them. In fact, they are more interested in the feeding than the housing and for ticks, they are interested in blood which they find using two sets of antenna looking structure at the tip of their forlegs known as Haller’s organ. This organ helps to pick up chemical signals which help them identify where they can find blood. They use chemical signals like carbon dioxide, and pheromones. They also check the humidity of the area to identify where a potential host is.

rawpixel

While the brown dog tick will feed on dogs, it will not lose an opportunity to feed on humans when they get one. They are responsible for the bacteria that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever which can lead to death in both humans and dogs. At room temperature, the tick prefers to feed on dog blood but at 38 degrees Celsius, the tick prefer to feed on human blood.

So if you aren't careful, you might have one of those guest living rent-free on your skin and sucking your precious blood. For dogs, tick treatment can get them off and for humans, ensuring that you aren't bitten by one is a good option but then, scientists are working on a vaccine against the disease. So the next time you are playing with your pet, remember that there are unwanted neighbors lurking around to feast on your blood and they could transmit RMSF to you.