Exotic tick-borne disease ehrlichiosis expected to kill thousands of dogs in NT

Nearly 1,000 dogs may have already died from an exotic tick-borne disease that is rapidly spreading through remote Indigenous communities, according to a Top End vet.

Ehrlichiosis was believed not to exist in Australia until it was confirmed in WA’s Kimberley region in May and the Northern Territory in June.

The bacterial disease causes fever, lethargy, enlarged lymph nodes, under-skin bleeding, weight loss and can lead to death in dogs.

Bonny Cumming, a vet with Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (AMRRIC) working across the Top End, said it was hard to gauge how many dogs had died from ehrlichiosis.

However, she expected by the end of the 2020–21 wet season, dog deaths would “be in the thousands”.