Ticks in the Netherlands: from the perspective of the owners of companion animals.

Abstract

During the master's program of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Utrecht, all students must conduct a research internship and a master thesis. This report is the master thesis of the research internship carried out by S. van Emden at the department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, under supervision of the division Clinical Infectiology of the University of Utrecht and the Institute of Risk Assessment. Research was conducted to gain more insight in Dutch owner’s knowledge about ticks present on companion animals and tick-borne diseases, the used tick control methods and the population proportions of tick species in the Netherlands. In addition, research was conducted to gain insight in the knowledge of dog and cat owners about tick-borne diseases. Data for this research was obtained among pet owners and veterinarians at the same time. Data about prevalence of tick borne diseases, recommended prevention methods and a possible new tool for removing ticks on dogs can be found in the report of D. Spreen, another student of the faculty of Veterinary Medicine.