An exotic disease potentially fatal to dogs has recentlybeen confirmed in northern Australia for the first time, with multiple cases reported in the Northern Territory and West Australia's Kimberley and Pilbara regions.

Key points:

• The tick-borne disease occurs in tropical and sub-tropical regions worldwide
• Some local vets believe they have been seeing symptoms of the disease in NT dogs for years
• There was no free testing for ehrlichiosis, until last year, which may have hampered earlier detections

However, some NT veterinarians suspect the disease may have avoided detection and circulated in the state's ticks and dogs for years.

Ehrlichiosis is a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium, Ehrlichia canis, which occurs worldwide and is most common in tropical and sub-tropical regions.

Symptoms in infected dogs include fever, lethargy, enlarged lymph nodes, loss of appetite and weight loss, and if left untreated, ehrlichiosis can be fatal.

Australia's first domestic outbreak was found in dogs from the WA towns of Halls Creek and Kununurra in May, and further cases have today been confirmed in WA's West Kimberley and Pilbara regions.

NT Chief Veterinary Officer, Sue Fitzpatrick, said cases of ehrlichiosis were also confirmed in five dogs from the NT town of Katherine and a remote community west of Alice Springs last week.

Dr Fitzpatrick said the prevalence of the disease was difficult to determine, because its symptoms were similar to other well-established tick-borne diseases, such as anaplasmosis and babesiosis.

"The difference with ehrlichiosis is we're seeing some bleeding disorders, such as nose bleeds, or sore eyes and the eyes can go a little bit cloudy,"

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2020-06-25/ehrlichiosis-undetected-nt-vets-suspect-new-dog-disease/12388500?utm_medium=social&utm_content=sf235408001&utm_campaign=abc_rural&utm_source=m.facebook.com&sf235408001=1&fbclid=IwAR05FSwtptsneB91y43UIUmOYE1Kq8xQ4YwGcDJzLqCPwTGya-3CTyoiTcg