Animal ownership does not directly increase a person's risk of Lyme disease. However, allowing your animals to roam in tick habitat or venturing into tick habitat with your animals does increase your risk of exposure to ticks. Lyme disease is not considered to be contagious between people or directly from animals to man. Although some deaths have been attributed to Lyme disease, it is not generally considered to be fatal. Once an animal or person has apparently recovered from the disease it appears to be possible to be reinfected.
Blood testing is available for animals and man.
A positive test can be diagnostic when appropriate symptoms are present. However, it is possible to have a negative test during the course of the disease or following antibiotic therapy and still have Lyme disease. A negative test following treatment does not indicate cure. Miscarriage, premature births, still births, birth defects and transplacental infection of the fetus have been reported in animals and man. Vaccination for dogs is now available.