Tick Project releases results of five-year study

Article Excerpts:

First, the good news: Over five years, 46 Millbrook-based researchers found that bait boxes reduced the tick population in the yards of Dutchess County residents by half.

The bad news: It didn’t matter. Although there were fewer ticks, it had little effect on reducing illness or people’s encounters with them, findings in line with a preliminary study completed in 2016.

For the study, researchers selected 24 neighborhoods in Dutchess County, including some in Beacon. They applied fungal spray and bait boxes, both of which are commercially available and safe for people, pets and the environment.

The spray, which is sold as Met52, is made from Metarhizium anisopliae, which is found in forest soil in the eastern U.S. “It makes its living by attacking and killing arthropods on the forest floor, digesting them and using them as a food source,” said Ostfeld.

The bait boxes attract rodents that, once inside, rub against a wick that applies a non-toxic insecticide with the same active ingredient as Frontline, a tick treatment for pets. “It’s safe for vertebrates but lethal for ticks,” Ostfeld said.  (See link for article)

_______________

**Comment**

There are no easy answers here.  Sorry.

This is why our family has been without pets for years now.  Living in the Wisconsin woods is bad enough without inviting ticks into the house via pets.

While the article states Frontline is “safe,” I’ve actually known dogs to get sick and/or die after using it.  Also, a flea and tick collar caused our dog to lose his hair.  Our healthy, albeit older, dog suddenly developed a poor immune system and eventually died.  I don’t believe this a coincidence and the suspicious timing of the collar is too great to ignore.

Besides the most common reactions Frontline causes like hair loss, itching, and redness, and neurological issues like uncoordinated movement and lethargy, research by the EPA in 2009 examined incident data for spot-on pesticides used on dogs, including fipronil products for dogs and cats. The report on Frontline Plus for Dogs shows that of a total of 2469 incidents, they classified:

  • 1,872 (76%) as minor
  • 51 (21%) as moderate
  • 47 (2%) as major
  • 39 (<2%)  were deaths
These side effects are not addressed anywhere on Frontline’s website.

The EPA’s study also covered many other spot-on pesticides for dogs, and while some incidents were classified as minor, it’s important to note there were major incidents and deaths associated with every product.

Dr Jennifer Ramelmeier, a veterinarian who advises her patients to avoid using it states:

“The first response of the body when the patient develops a toxic load is to discharge from the body via the eyes, the ears, the skin and through loose stool … these discharges make a great medium for bacterial and yeast growth (which live naturally on your dog’s body).”

Frontline Plus is produced and owned by Merial, the animal subsidiary of Sanofi, a multinational pharmaceutical company

Ramelmeier and some other veterinarians started noticing that after the initial dose and bodily discharges, repeated doses are linked to conditions that don’t improve, cancer, and then death.

Others disagree and simply state it’s safe.

Here is some of the best advice from holistic vets:

  • Maintain the health of your pet. This means a healthy diet and physical activity. Also minimize the use of unnecessary pharmaceuticals. Healthy animals have lower body temperatures and cooler animals attract fewer fleas.
  • To actively repel fleas, she recommends products like neem oil.
  • Use Shoo tags
  • Feed garlic
  • Apply geranium oil to the collar of your dog to prevent fleas and ticks

Want to know how you can keep the fleas and ticks away naturally? Check out this article for more information on safe flea and tick protection.

Regarding Neem oil – I’ve used it for years as a pesticide on plants with very good effect.  I have not used it on pets.

For more: