The Wire

More than 300 dogs in Western Australia and the Northern Territory have tested positive for a disease called canine ehrlichiosis, which is transmitted through the bite of a bacterium-carrying parasite called the “brown dog tick”. It is an outbreak that has been spreading throughout Australia since May 2020, despite the COVID-19 border controls that have been in place during the pandemic. The rising cases have also seen the Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities (ANRRIC), to increase its calls for more government funding, so that greater support can be given to veterinarians, as well as households who own pets.