UK tick-borne disease risk is shifting for pets and practices

The threat from ticks and tick-borne diseases in the UK is changing from a mostly seasonal nuisance into a more dynamic surveillance and clinical challenge. Lyme disease remains the best-known endemic risk, but the bigger shift is that veterinary teams are now dealing with changing tick distribution, imported species, and evidence that some non-traditional risks can appear in dogs without travel history. UKHSA’s January 2026 surveillance paper adds weight to that picture, documenting 3,182 tick records and 27 species through the Tick Surveillance Scheme from 2021 to 2024, while confirming that Ixodes ricinus remains the UK’s dominant tick and the main vector for Lyme disease. (researchportal.ukhsa.gov.uk)

That broader concern has been building for years. The UK has already seen how local tick ecology can change the clinical picture, most notably with canine babesiosis cases in Essex in 2015 to 2016 involving untravelled dogs, which raised fears that Babesia canis had moved from an imported risk to a focal domestic one. More recently, APHA warned in May 2025 that tick-borne disease reports were increasing in cattle and sheep, including in areas not typically associated with these infections, and said the geographic distribution of infection is likely to keep evolving with climatic and land-use changes. While that alert focused on livestock, it reinforces the same One Health and surveillance message for companion animal practice. (vettimes.com)

Current surveillance suggests Lyme disease remains the more consistent day-to-day concern. UKHSA’s National Tick Survey says about 4% to 6% of ticks tested are infected with the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease, with similar rates for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, while Babesia rates are much lower, below 1%. ESCCAP UK and Ireland says I. ricinus is the most important vector tick in the UK, transmitting Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and A. phagocytophilum. In dogs, ESCCAP notes that most Lyme-exposed animals remain clinically normal, but a minority can develop fever, anorexia, polyarthritis, lymphadenopathy, and, rarely, Lyme nephropathy. (gov.uk)

The babesiosis picture is more nuanced. A 2022 open-access study on Babesia prevalence in UK ticks found one B. canis isolate among sampled Dermacentor reticulatus ticks and concluded that B. canis did not appear widely prevalent in established UK D. reticulatus populations at that point. But the same paper emphasized that novel Babesia pathogens are a growing concern, and it highlighted the importance of understanding changes in both endemic and emerging species. In other words, low prevalence does not mean low importance when disease can cluster geographically and carry high clinical impact in dogs. (sciencedirect.com)

Industry and expert messaging has stayed fairly consistent: surveillance and prevention matter more than ever. ESCCAP UK and Ireland stresses that some tick-borne infections are now indigenous to the UK, not just travel-associated, while UKHSA’s newer mapping work says imported tick species continue to be detected and that submissions can help identify changing exposure patterns. APHA has also explicitly encouraged practitioners to submit ticks to the UKHSA Tick Surveillance Scheme to help detect non-native and rare species and improve public health assessment. That’s a practical reminder that front-line veterinary teams are part of the surveillance network, not just end users of it. (esccapuk.org.uk)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the change is operational as much as epidemiological. Practices may need to think less in terms of a fixed “tick season” or a narrow map of historic hotspots, and more in terms of patient-level risk: travel, imported rescue history, habitat exposure, working and rural dogs, and regional shifts in tick activity. The 2024 VetCompass-linked study on UK dogs underscores that tick exposure is measurable at scale in primary care records, supporting a more data-driven approach to prevention and case recognition. For clinicians, that means careful travel and lifestyle histories, prompt tick removal, appropriate diagnostics such as blood smear or PCR when babesiosis is suspected, and clearer guidance for pet parents on when routine prevention should be stepped up. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

What to watch: The next phase is likely to be more granular local risk mapping, stronger surveillance participation, and closer attention to whether imported or newly detected tick species stay incidental or begin to establish. UKHSA’s updated mapping tools and APHA’s recent alerts suggest the direction of travel is toward earlier detection and more targeted regional messaging, which could shape both prescribing conversations and diagnostic vigilance in first-opinion practice over the next tick seasons. (researchportal.ukhsa.gov.uk)