Agricultural Sciences

It's tick season: Learn to protect yourself and your animals with free webinars

Penn State Extension will offer a unique webinar series focusing on tick and Lyme disease education as it relates to the interactions people have with their animals, including working and hunting dogs, horses, and household pets. Credit: Joyce Sakamoto. All Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease, caused by a tick-borne pathogen, affects more than 400,000 people each year.

“Tick-borne diseases are the greatest concern in vector-borne disease in the United States,” said Erika Machtinger, assistant professor of veterinary entomology in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

Vector-borne diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks, blackflies, sandflies, triatomine bugs, tsetse flies, mites, snails and lice. But tick-borne pathogens account for the bulk — about 75% — of all vector-borne diseases in the U.S., according to Machtinger. And ticks can harm animals as well as people.

“Lyme disease and anaplasmosis can affect dogs and horses just like people,” Machtinger said. “It sometimes can be difficult to tell what is going on, but they can seem tired, sore, have a lack of appetite or run a fever.”

To educate the public about tick risk and tick bite prevention in these companion animals, Penn State Extension will offer the spring 2022 “Tick Webinar Series.” The vector-borne disease extension team will hold three webinars in May — Lyme Disease Awareness Month — at no cost to participants. This series will focus on ticks and tick control in working and hunting dogs, companion pets, and horses, covering steps that pet and horse owners should consider to reduce their own risk of tick bites.

Focusing on tick and Lyme disease education from a human-animal-interaction perspective makes the webinar series unique, Machtinger noted. Usually, prevention centers on either humans or animals, but not how the two interact. The series is aimed at keeping both animals and humans safe.

“People who spend time around dogs and horses may think about how to control and prevent ticks on themselves when they’re outdoors,” Machtinger said. “And then they may think about it for their animals. But often they don't think about how the activities they do with their animals, such as taking a trail ride with a horse, or just having a dog in the house, may increase their risk of tick bites.”

“Tick Prevention on Working, Hunting and Farm Dogs,” the first webinar in the series, will occur from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 12. The event is designed for owners of working, hunting or farm dogs. The webinar will cover:

  • The primary ticks that are found on working, hunting and farm dogs and the veterinary concerns associated with these ticks.
  • Available treatment options.
  • How to prevent ticks on working, hunting and farm dogs, and how to reduce your risk of a tick bite if you live with this type of dog.

More information on the first webinar is available on the Penn State Extension website.

“Horses and Ticks Don't Mix — Protecting Your Horses from Tick Bites,” the second webinar, will take place from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday, May 17. Ticks can transmit pathogens to horses that cause Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and other ailments. Since no vaccines exist to protect horses from these pathogens, prevention of tick bites is critical, organizers said.

Aimed at horse owners, prospective horse owners and horse farm owners, the session will cover:

  • How to identify important ticks.
  • Multiple ways to approach tick control on and off the horse.
  • How to reduce the risk of tick bite and pathogen transmission.

More information on the second webinar is available on the Penn State Extension website.

“Tick Prevention on Companion Animals,” the third webinar, will occur from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, May 26. Instructors will discuss how to protect pets from tick bites and prevent them from bringing ticks into the home. The event is designed for owners of dogs and cats in the northeastern United States. The session will cover:

  • Primary ticks that are found on pets and veterinary concerns associated with these ticks.
  • Available treatment options for ticks on pets and how to prevent ticks on pets.
  • How to reduce ticks around your home and lower your risk of a tick bite if you live with a pet.

More information on the third webinar is available on the Penn State Extension website.

All three events are free. However, registration is required by noon on each webinar date to receive the link to access the live webinar. Registrants also will receive access to the webinar recording.

Last Updated April 29, 2022

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