There are two approaches to preventing infection in dogs. The other is vaccination. Attempts to reduce the deer tick population by radically reducing the deer population, even by as much as 70 percent, have been only partially successful. Other wildlife can replace the deer as hosts, and efforts to reduce the population of white-footed mice are not feasible. Selective chemical control of ticks appears to be more promising, although only relatively small areas can be covered.
Mice use the cotton for nesting material.
The acaricide-covered nesting material rapidly kills exposed I. scapularis larvae and nymphs. Contradictory reports have appeared about the effectiveness of this approach. The Borrelia burgdorferi Bacterin from Fort Dodge Laboratories is currently the only licensed Lyme disease vaccine for dogs. Several million doses have been sold, and, other than transitory fever, dogs do not appear to have any mmediate adverse reactions to its use. However, the vaccine does not protect from actual infection.