Almost a third of dogs checked at random across the UK were found to be carrying a tick, researchers said today after carrying out the largest survey of ticks in dogs.
Researchers also found that the risk of an animal picking up a tick is as great in urban areas as in rural ones.
Ticks can carry a range of diseases including Lyme disease, and also a parasite discovered in the UK for the first time earlier this year that is potentially fatal to dogs, the BBC reported.
Lyme disease has the potential to cause serious health problems, such as meningitis and heart failure. In the most serious cases, it can be fatal.
Almost 15,000 dogs from across the UK were examined in the study, which was carried out by Bristol University last year, the report said.
Just under a third (31 per cent) of these dogs checked at random during a visit to the vet were found to be carrying a tick.
The researchers found that the arachnids are present right across the UK, with the highest risk areas being Scotland, East Anglia and the South West. There can be just as many in urban areas as in rural areas.
Launched in April 2015, the project asked participating vets to examine dogs in their practice for each week and complete a questionnaire relating to the clinical history of each dog. The species, life-cycle stage, sex and location of origin and whether it was carrying any pathogens were recorded.
Prof Richard Wall, who led the Big Tick Project team at the University of Bristol, said: "The work that we have carried out shows that ticks are extremely widely dispersed. The records that we have got appear to show that we have had an increase in tick numbers right across the country.
"What we are primarily concerned about is the diseases that ticks carry. In the UK, we have relatively low rates of the prevalence of these pathogens at the moment and, in contrast, in continental Europe they have much higher rates of disease. As there seems to be a rise in tick numbers, we need to be concerned and be aware of the potential for increasing problems."
Prof Wall said pet owners should be aware of the risk in woodland or areas of long grass, but urban areas were also affected.
Ticks don't jump or fly, they climb on to clothes if a person brushes against something that the tick is holding on to.
Lyme disease is transmitted by the bite of a tick infected with Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria.
The tick acts as a vector. In the same way that a mosquito transmits malaria when it sucks blood from a person, the tick does the same to an animal or a person.
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