New tick found on Raro dogs
Some Rarotonga dogs have contracted a new tick, but Esther Honey Foundation (EHF) veterinarian Eilidh Hawkins says it is ‘not something to be overly concerned about’.

A survey in the mid-1990s revealed that there were no ticks on Rarotonga, and EHF is currently doing another census to determine the prevalence of the recently-discovered tick.

Hawkins says the tick is ‘quite easily controlled’, and EHF can remove ticks and treat their bites.

“We have lots of treatments at the clinic – people can come in and we can sort them out with tick treatment. A lot of flea treatments will also cover ticks.”

She said that the brown dog tick generally does not spread diseases to people and has never been a proven carrier of Lyme disease.

Naturalist Gerald McCormack says the brown dog tick probably originates from northern Africa and is common throughout the tropics.

“Because it can complete its life cycle indoors it is also common in temperate areas,” McCormack said. “It is common in Queensland and New South Wales but absent from New Zealand, although it has been periodically intercepted in Auckland in cargo, luggage and clothing. In the Pacific Islands it is known from Fiji and Samoa, but not from French Polynesia.”

The brown tick prefers to live on dogs but will also feed on other mammals, including humans. It can carry bacterial disease canine ehrlichiosis, which is present in Samoa and Australia. And while it is not known to have transmitted diseases to humans in the US and Australia, it has spread Mediterranean spotted fever to people in the Mediterranean, north Africa and Asia.

The tick needs three blood meals to complete its life cycle – one as a larva, one as a nymph and one final feeding as an adult. It generally completes a life cycle in about ten weeks, but larvae and nymphs can go six months without a meal and adults can wait 18 months before feeding. Females can lay up to 4000 eggs. - Rachel Reeves