2022 FCRSA National Specialty

Education Events

Diagnosis of Tick-Borne Diseases – Friday, June 10

Dr Rebecca Wilkes will present a seminar on Progress in Diagnosis of Tick-Borne Diseases on Friday, June 10, 2022 at the Holiday Inn Purdue Ft Wayne (host hotel).

Vector-borne (tick-borne) diseases can cause serious, even life-threatening, disease in any dog, including Flat-Coated Retrievers, whether in suburban households or out in the field. Accurate diagnosis of these diseases is fundamental for correct treatment, but can be very difficult. Dr. Wilkes will be presenting information about vector-borne diseases, including a summary of the bacteria that cause these diseases and an explanation for why they are difficult to diagnose. She will present her new method for detecting the disease-causing organisms associated with vector-borne diseases.

Dr. Rebecca Wilkes obtained her DVM from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001 and her PhD in Comparative and Experimental Medicine from the University of Tennessee in 2007, with emphases in virology and molecular biology. Dr. Wilkes is board certified by the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists in both virology and bacteriology/mycology. She currently serves as the section head for molecular and virology lab sections at the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University, and is an associate professor in the Department of Comparative Pathobiology. Dr. Wilkes has an extensive background in molecular test development, and her most recent work has involved design of targeted next-generation sequencing panels for detection of infectious diseases of animals for syndromic testing. Rebecca is married to her college sweetheart, Nathan Wilkes, and they enjoy spending time with their two 2-legged children and three 4-legged children (2 dogs and 1 cat).