Pet owners across the region are being warned to use tick prevention even if they don't travel to the coast.
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A study by researchers at the University of Queensland is looking into how juvenile ticks, which do not cause paralysis, could be "hitchhiking" from the coast on camping gear or pets. The ticks can then mature in the Canberra environment before finding a new host, and causing paralysis.
The warning comes after veterinary practises in Canberra and Queanbeyan have had cases of pets, dogs in particular, presenting with tick paralysis that have not travelled to the coast.
If the cause of the paralysis isn't immediately obvious to a veterinarian, treatment can be delayed which can have "catastrophic consequences" for the pet.
University of Queensland's faculty of science professor Stephen Barker, an expert in the department of parasitology, is studying the phenomenon. His team has already proven the "hitchhiking" tick theory in Melbourne.
Mr Barker said the good news was there wasn't any evidence the ticks were forming "resident populations" in Melbourne or Canberra. He spoke to vets in Canberra last week about the issue.
"What we're looking into, and we don't know if it's a big problem, a small problem or no problem at all, is the concept of hitchhiker ticks, or interlopers," Mr Barker said.
"If there are days between figuring out what's causing paralysis, the dog goes downhill pretty quickly."
Mr Barker said it was still considered a "rare phenomenon", but pet owners needed to be aware of the possibility.
"We don't know whether these hitchhiker ticks have occurred in Canberra at all, but we suspect they have. We'll be collecting data over the next few years to figure it out."
Queanbeyan West Veterinary Hospital vet Philo Nashed said the clinic had dogs and even an echidna present with a paralysis tick.
"There has been an increase in incidents of tick and tick toxicity cases from animals solely residing within the Canberra region," Mr Nashed said.
"We are now recommending to place all animals on tick prevention and to contact your vet about tick prevention," he said.
The most common species of paralysis tick, the Ixodes holocyclus, is generally found on the coast, with Batemans Bay, Moruya and Wollongong considered hotspots for the parasites.
