26/04/2026
For all you folk working their dogs
From a Telegraph article- Tick Bourne disease affecting dogs Spreads across Britain linked to warmer climate
MAEVE CULLINANGlobal Health Security Reporter
A RARE tick-borne virus that can cause seizures and death in animals is spreading around Britain and infecting dogs, experts have warned.
Louping ill has been known to infect humans and has long been found in parts of Scotland, but is now emerging across the country.
The infection is carried by ticks and takes its name from the old Scots word “loup” (“to leap”), describing the uncoordinated movements seen in infected animals as a result of the neurological damage that the virus inflicts.
The disease has been known about for centuries, but has, until now, been confined to upland areas of Scotland and northern England, where it has mainly affected sheep and red grouse.
But now veterinary scientists are reporting the virus in animals, including cattle, horses and dogs in areas including Dartmoor, the Scottish Borders, Wales and Northern Ireland.
An overall increase in tick-borne infections in Britain has been linked in large part to warming temperatures, which allow the insects to survive year-round.
While surveillance is patchy – the virus is not classed as ‘notifable’, meaning farmers and vets do not need to report cases to health authorities – experts have suggested the virus is becoming more frequent in dogs, particularly in working dogs exposed frequently to ticks.
“It is on the increase in dogs, certainly, although the numbers do remain relatively low. These are mostly sheepdogs and working dogs on shoots,” Dr Beth Wells, a scientist at the Moredun Research Institute, a research centre that focuses on livestock health and tests animals for the louping ill virus, told The Telegraph.
The centre recently carried out tests on two Labrador gun dogs in the Scottish moorlands, which were put down after presenting with loss of coordination, seizures, and tremors.
Blood samples confirmed the presence of louping ill.
Another group of seven foxhounds in Devon came back positive for louping ill after being bitten by ticks and presenting with similar symptoms.
‘Blood samples go to labs that aren’t centralised, so it’s difficult to get a grip on the problem’
“The problem is that when blood samples are taken in individual vets in different parts of the country, they go to various laboratories that aren’t centralised, so it’s very difficult to get a real grip on the problem,” Dr Wells said.
While tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis are rising in Britain, human cases of louping ill remain extremely rare – just 31 have ever been officially confirmed in Britain, mostly in farmers and vets in Scotland – and none have been fatal.
