Novartis highlight tick risk for sheep this summer after one of the wettest springs on record

April saw more than double the average rainfall for the time of year in most of England, Wales and eastern Scotland, which has produced ideal conditions for ticks to reproduce and spread, according to the National Animal Disease Information Service (NADIS). Lambs and ewes grazing tick habitats are therefore now at greater risk of picking them up.

“In some areas of the country the tick challenge has been quite high this year, so it’s important to treat sheep to reduce the spread of serious diseases that ticks can carry,” says Novartis Animal Health’s vet Thomas Tiley.

“These include louping ill, tick pyaemia and tick-borne fever in sheep, all of which can be fatal. And the incidence of the serious tick-borne zoonosis, Lyme’s disease, also seems to be on the increase in humans and dogs.”