Dr Debbie Delahunty of the Horsham Veterinary Hospital said the while recent brown dog tick case was only discovered in the Horsham, the infection itself interstate.

The bacterial infection of Ehrlichiosis via brown dog tick found in Horsham was due to a dog being infected in the Northern Territory and the infection being discovered when the owner and dog returned to Horsham.

"What was found in Horsham was a dog infected Ehrlichiosis but that dog had come from the Northern Territory, it's quite likely it picked up the disease there and not here in Horsham," Dr Delahunty said.

Dr Delahunty explained the disease is spread from a bite from a tick called the brown dog tick.

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"It's a bacterial infection that is new to Australia in the past 12 months or so, " she said.

The tick has been spreading southerly from Western Australia and Northern Territory and has been declared an endemic.

But Dr Delahunty wanted to stress tick is a small risk in the western side of Victoria.

"In the veterinary world we've always been concerned about a tick called paralysis tick which is on the eastern coast but west of the dividing range, the risk is relatively low," she said.

"We're not a very prevalent tick area, there are not a lot of ticks here."

She said there isn't much data on brown dog ticks in the area and if those ticks have bacterial infections.

"If that dog has come from the Northern Territory with Ehrlichiosis in its system and then went out to bushland areas where there might be brown dog ticks and they bit that dog and got the tick population infected, that's how it could potentially spread," Dr Delahunty said.

"But the risk of that is extremely small because of the low tick population."

Dr Delahunty said if your dog shows signs of a bacterial infection, it can be treated with antibiotics if caught early.

Dr Delahunty said good prevention is the best practice for both paralysis and brown dog ticks.

"The only way to prevent an infection is to prevent tick bite," she said.

"The recommendation is that dogs have two forms of tick prevention. Traditional, really highly effective products that we have been using for paralysis ticks are good."

She recommended products like Bravecto, Nexgard as they kill ticks very quickly.

"Ehrlichiosis is transmitted very rapidly when ticks bite, so in addition to use those tick products that kill ticks quickly, we want something that stops them from biting in the first place, like a repellant," Dr Delahunty said.

"You're combining a tick killing product with a repellant product."

There can be quite a variety of symptoms from Ehrlichiosis, which can include:

"If your dog is sick, for any reason, get them checked out," Dr Delahunty said.

"More than likely, it won't be Ehrlichia.

"Right now, ticks are not a huge problem here, so the chances of a dog being bitten by a tick in the first place is slim, let alone a tick that's infected with Ehrlichiosis."

Dr Delahunty said she strongly recommends dog owners have their dogs on quality, all-round parasite control products, including ticks.

"If you are going into bushland areas where they have seen ticks previously, they should also use a repellant, like the Seresto collar."

She also recommended that if people travel up north in tick-areas to be vigilant and use two products.

"Also still searching for ticks because no product is 100 per cent foolproof," Dr Delahunty said.

She also said if you find a tick on your dog, remove it as fast as possible as the longer paralysis ticks are attached, the more toxins are injected into the dog.

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