‘Be vigilant’: Patients want Canadians to know about lesser-known tick-borne diseases
Raffaella Harris developed intense fatigue and joint pain while living in Windsor, Ont. in May, 2018. At the time, a tick-borne disease was the last thing she suspected – let alone one not typically found in Ontario.
But even as she searched for answers with her doctor, a bacteria called Rickettsia rickettsii was replicating within her body, introduced through a tick bite she hadn’t even noticed. Within days of the initial onset of her symptoms, Harris was hobbled by pain. (See link for article and video)
___________________
Important excerpt:
New research out of McGill University and the University of Ottawa has found tick-borne pathogens such as Rickettsia rickettsii and Babesia odocoilei are spreading beyond their usual range and into Central Canada, thanks, in part to climate change.
Nope.
Rather than fund more faulty, erroneous climate change research, how about we fund labs for something practical like testing ticks and all the pathogens they carry?
Since so many patients slip through the cracks, testing ticks directly would help us know what pathogens are in an area and an idea about prevalence.
This information; however, should never be used against patients, which has happened historically. The lunacy of telling someone they can’t have Lyme disease because certain ticks don’t exist there or “there aren’t any recorded cases,” is shear madness and defies all sound logic. Ticks travel everywhere due to migrating birds and other animals that don’t understand borders.
For more:
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/12/15/molecular-detection-of-anaplasma-babesia-odocoilei-babesia-spp-borrelia-burgdorferi-sensu-lato-in-songbirds/ Based on our data, B. odocoilei outnumbered other Babesia spp., and elucidated the authentic fact that B. odocoilei is the predominant Babesia sp. in North America.
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2021/05/28/study-shows-babesia-odocoilei-is-pathogenic-to-humans/ Study found B. odocoilei in two of 19 participants. DNA amplicons from these two patients are almost identical matches with the type strains of B. odocoilei in GenBank. In addition, the same two human subjects had the hallmark symptoms of human babesiosis, including night sweats, chills, fevers, and profound fatigue. Based on symptoms and molecular identification, we provide substantive evidence that B. odocoilei is pathogenic to humans. Dataset reveals that B. odocoilei serologically cross-reacts with Babesia duncani.
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/11/11/anaplasma-babesia-odocoilei-and-lyme-in-ticks-found-widely-across-eastern-canada/
- https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2021/03/18/babesia-odocoilei-found-in-canadian-black-legged-ticks/
Madison Area Lyme Support Group 