This disease has the potential to create huge problems. This is something that could be passed on to humans. What we don't know about this disease is what really scares us. What researchers do know is that heartwater disease is caused by a bacteria transmitted by ticks from the Amblyomma genus. The ticks pass on the disease by feeding on cattle, sheep, goats, deer, antelope and other wild and domestic animals.
Death can come quickly.
Ticks capable of carrying the disease have been found in nine reptile facilities in Florida since 1997. But this past May, the situation grew more serious. Dr. Michael Burridge, chairman of the department of pathobiology at the University of Florida's College of Veterinary Medicine, said ticks collected from tortoises that had been imported from Africa to Hillsborough County were carrying the bacteria. The bacteria's presence took several months to confirm. The ticks were sent to the research lab Burridge's uses in Zimbabwe.