Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), analyzed its 2007 claims data on infectious diseases and discovered an increase in tick-borne canine ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis. Lyme disease also topped the list for the third year in a row.

Together, the three conditions accounted for 47 percent of canine claims for infectious diseases in 2007. VPI policyholders submitted more than 25,000 claims for infectious diseases and paid nearly $6 million to treat these conditions in 2007.

For felines, upper respiratory infections resulted in the greatest number of infectious disease claims, followed by the herpes virus. The three conditions of feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), feline leukemia (FeLV), and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) combined, resulted in 10 percent of feline infectious disease claims.

Source: www.petinsurance.com; Top Infectious Diseases, May 19, 2008.