Archive for the ‘Bartonella’ Category

“Ehrlichia,” Rhapsody in Discomfort #6

https://www.lymedisease.org/ehrlichia-rhapsody-discomfort

TOUCHED BY LYME: “Ehrlichia,” Rhapsody in Discomfort #6

April 11, 2022

Dan Flanagan is a professional violinist and composer based in Northern California. He takes pleasure in creating music for solo violins and small ensembles. He often pairs his compositions with paintings from artists who inspire him—sort of a multi-media artistic approach, if you will.

I haven’t met him. But in the introduction to the following YouTube video, Dan comes across like a playful guy with an impish sense of humor.

Yet beneath the surface, there is much more to his story.

Dan has made his way in the music world despite severe muscle, joint and nerve pain—and other unpleasant realities—that have plagued him since the age of 12.

Finally, a diagnosis

Five years ago, at 37, after years of seeking out different doctors in search of relief from his agony, he was finally diagnosed with Borrelia (Lyme), Bartonella, Babesia, Ehrlichia, relapsing fever, and Epstein-Barr virus. (He does not recall ever being bitten by a tick.) Since the diagnosis, he’s undergone a wide variety of treatments that so far haven’t achieved the level of healing he has long sought.

“While it’s possible that these things have helped a little or at least slowed down the progression, I’m still miserable,” he says.

Physically playing the violin is a struggle for Dan, because of stiff muscles and other symptoms. But he says that music is what keeps him going, his raison d’etre, what gives meaning to his life. So, he carries on.

Putting pain to music

In the spirit of focusing on what he loves to do, Dan recently composed a short piece of music entitled “Ehrlichia,” Rhapsody in Discomfort #6.

Here’s how he explains it:

“Ehrlichia” is written in Rondo form. The repeated Rondo theme, representing the disease traveling through the body, is a fast moving, feverish collection of scales in C minor.

Each digression represents a different symptom experienced by the victim, and each return of the Rondo theme mutates as the disease develops.

Traditional harmonies, tonal clusters, and extended techniques combine to create feelings of discomfort, exhaustion, confusion, fear, and hope. Indeed, toward the end of the piece, the violin represents the attack of antibiotics with piercing and relentless C major chords, followed by temporary calm.

Beginning with a pizzicato tick bite, “Ehrlichia” brings the listener through the tribulations of a Lyme disease patient, ending with joyous relief and tranquility… followed by relapse.

With the aid of a financial grant from IntermusicSF, an arts advocacy organization, Dan has created a video of his three-person ensemble performing this work. He has made it available for all to see.

In the video above, Dan is playing with his friends Paul and Vicky Ehrlich. Amused that their last name closely resembles one of his infections, he chose the title “Ehrlichia” for this piece of music. Their ensemble goes by the name “Trio Solano.”

The video also features a painting that Dan commissioned from East Coast artist Nancy Schroeder, who also has Lyme disease and co-infections (including Ehrlichia).

At the end of the video, he includes information about Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, with URLs for more information.

“Ehrlichia,” Rhapsody in Discomfort #6 is a remarkable piece of music and the video is beautifully shot and edited. However, the musicians sit in a grassy meadow. I must admit, I found myself nervously hoping they were all wearing permethrin-treated clothing, with bug repellent on their bare skin!

I emailed Dan to ask him about it—and he assured me, the three took proper precautions to protect themselves from ticks. Whew! Good to know.

The Bow and the Brush

He continues to work on the music that sustains him. He will make his Carnegie Hall debut with “The Bow and the Brush,” a solo violin recital on October 3. Every piece on the program will be a world premiere, commissioned or composed by Dan, with images of the art projected during the performance.

The West Coast Premiere of “The Bow and the Brush” will take place at UC Berkeley on October 16. Learn more about Dan’s work and his upcoming performances at his website.

Photo credit: Russ Gold

Click here to learn how to protect yourself from ticks

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s Vice-president and Director of Communications. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

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**Comment**

Yes, it definitely makes my skin crawl and fantastically represents Lyme/MSIDS audibly.

My first concern was about the musicians sitting in grassy woods….glad they took precautions as that would have seriously impeded my ability to listen!

For more:

Category:

Activism, Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, Tickborne Relapsing Fever, Viruses

Treating Bartonella Cleared Most of My Son’s Symptoms of Autism

https://www.lymedisease.org/treating-bartonella-cleared-autism/

Treating Bartonella cleared most of my son’s symptoms of autism

By Debbie Kimberg

April 8, 2022

For years, I had no idea that I was infected with Lyme disease and related illnesses. There was nothing obvious, like pain or chronic fatigue. Instead, my symptoms were mild and crept up on me insidiously over my lifetime: anxiety, social anxiety, irritability, then migraines, thyroiditis, a little neuropathy in my fingertips and arthritis in my knuckles.

Little did I know that I had stealth infections that I would unsuspectingly transmit to my three sons during my pregnancies. This is known as congenital Lyme disease.

My three boys all exhibited very different presentations. When my oldest son was in preschool, he was charming, driven and precocious. But he was also oppositional, had excessive tantrums, trouble with transitions, picky eating, and was hypersensitive to seams in socks and sunlight.

My middle son was your typical child with ADHD. He was your happy-go-lucky kid in constant motion, hopping or running from place to place. In school, he had difficulty concentrating and with executive function. By middle school, he developed anxiety and a few panic attacks. Then in college, he suffered from multiple bouts of severe depression and chronic fatigue.

However, it was my youngest son, Sammy, who got the shortest end of the stick. He had issues from day one. His first year of development was mostly on track, but as the years progressed, he developed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), multiple vocal and movement tics, ADHD, learning disabilities, low reading comprehension, baby talk, age regression, bedwetting, antisocial behavior, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and OCD.

I thought this was just our life. Every family has their problems. Lots of kids have ADHD or ASD. It runs in families, right? My mild issues were under control. I didn’t think there was a single root cause to all of our problems.

Brain on Fire

Then I read Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, by Susannah Cahalan. The author developed an infection that caused severe psychiatric and physical symptoms.

Inspired by the book, I made an appointment with a doctor of functional medicine to evaluate Sammy and give another opinion about his symptoms.  Sammy was 10 years old. After our intake interview, the doctor diagnosed him with Pediatric Acute Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). He had a majority of the symptoms, 29 in all:

  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Vocal tics: squealing, grunting, stammering, throat clearing
  • Movement tics: a neck roll that first appeared at 6 months old, facial grimace, bending, swaying, spinning, hand flapping when excited, running at inappropriate times
  • Baby talk
  • Age regression
  • ASD
  • ADHD
  • Learning disabilities, low reading comprehension
  • Brain fog
  • Anxiety
  • Social anxiety
  • Depression
  • Antisocial (i.e. addicted to electronics, stayed in room, spoke quietly)
  • Bedwetting
  • Dysgraphia
  • Picky eating
  • Dilated eyes
  • Balance issues
  • Gluten and dairy sensitivity

Furthermore, his titers for strep and coxsackie virus were also sky high.

Lyme disease and co-infections

After six months on different antibiotics with little improvement, our doctor ran IGeneX tests on Sammy, his two older brothers, and me, for Lyme disease and co-infections. The results were confusing.

Two boys showed positive for Borrelia burgdorferi; Sammy and I had three indeterminant bands. Sammy was IGG positive for Babesia microti and only my middle son was positive for Bartonella henselae. In time, it was determined that all four of us were positive for the trifecta of tick-borne diseases—Borrelia, Babesia, and Bartonella.

I’ve heard that symptoms of congenital Lyme disease often show in children by age four. This is what we experienced with all three of my boys, though their presentations were vastly different.

An array of treatments–little progress

Once we had the diagnosis of Lyme disease and co-infections, we were optimistic that Sammy would quickly see improvements with treatment. Instead, we found ourselves traversing from doctor to doctor searching for a treatment that would help.

Over a period of five years, Sammy saw ten doctors in all and tried an array of antibiotics, herbals, homeopathics, supplements, and detoxes indicated for Lyme disease or PANS, with little progress.

Because Sammy was slightly better on the treatments versus nothing, we maintained a flicker of hope that eventually we would find a treatment that would work. In some cases, we abandoned certain treatments because his oppositional behavior became intense and untenable.

IVIG

With little progress after five years, we were excited when our neurologist got monthly high dose intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) approved by our insurance company. We had high hopes for the treatment.

The first five days after his initial treatment were tough. Like with many other treatments, Sammy became even more oppositional and impossible to deal with. Then, suddenly, as if a light switch had turned on, everything changed. Sammy became happy, social, and agreeable. His many tics were much better.

And, after years of poor memory, suddenly he could remember things! Like what he ate at his friend’s house for dinner and the names of all the kids who’d been with him. Since Sammy hit his teen years, he rarely spoke and only about a few topics obsessively such as when he was going to eat dairy and gluten again or wanting to play electronics all night. Now, he was much more neurotypical!

But the improvements were short-lived, typically lasting for only two weeks after each month’s infusion. And each month, the insurance company fought to discontinue the expensive treatment.

Delayed IVIG infusions wreaked havoc on Sammy’s behavior, causing him to devolve into depressive, oppositional episodes. After five treatments, our insurance company denied additional coverage. Despite such great improvements, Sammy was in the worst straits we had experienced.

What next?

We weren’t sure where to turn. With Sammy’s repeated attempts to run-away to ‘live with the beggars’ because our family rules were unbearable, we tried to check him into the psychiatric ward of a local children’s hospital. When the ER psychiatrist refused to admit him, we began searching for a long-term residential facility to keep him safe. My husband and I were heartbroken. How could our son see such dramatic improvements with IVIG, then so quickly become depressed and intolerant of everything around him?

After losing all hope from the failed IVIG treatment, our functional medicine doctor asked if we’d like to try disulfiram, a drug recently found to show great promise in treating Lyme and Babesia. She wasn’t aware of any other children who had tried it and expected Sammy would be one of the first.

It seemed like a longshot, but with no other options, what did we have to lose?

Disulfiram

The decision changed Sammy’s life. After one dose of disulfiram, Sammy’s oppositional behavior disappeared, his worst symptom at the time. No longer did he badger us for more dairy or gluten, insist on playing games all night, or threaten to run away. Suddenly, he was happy, agreeable, and more social. The overnight improvement of just those few symptoms was a miracle for our family life. We knew we were on the right track!

A few other symptoms improved on disulfiram during the six-month treatment: picky eating, dilated eyes, dysgraphia, most of bedwetting, antisocial behavior, and depression.

Yet, along with those important improvements, other symptoms intensified. These included OCD, age regression, baby talk, vocal and movement tics, brain fog, learning disabilities and ADHD. These symptoms proved annoying, but Sammy was happy and the symptoms were tolerable.

Targeting Bartonella

Despite Sammy’s negative Bartonella test, we suspected it due to his OCD.  We treated it next using an antibiotic protocol that included rifampin/rifabutin, clarithromycin, and minocycline. Again, we saw a major improvement in a very short time.

Suddenly, Sammy’s baby talk, age regression, hyperactivity, and eight vocal and movement tics resolved. These symptoms seemed intrinsically tied as they all cleared almost overnight. Sammy was thrilled when at six weeks into treatment, his gluten and dairy sensitivity resolved. He could eat whatever he wanted again with no worsening behavior! Bartonella treatment also fully cleared his bedwetting. None of our doctors seemed aware that these symptoms were caused by Bartonella. In fact, seventy percent of Sammy’s ASD symptoms appeared to be caused by Bartonella. It was an important discovery.

Good-bye to Special Ed classes

The most notable improvement came after four months of antibiotic treatment for Bartonella. Sammy, who had been in special education since preschool due to learning disabilities and low reading comprehension,  now began doing his homework independently. And his grades moved from low Cs to high As.

Remarkably, on statewide testing, he went from a fifth-grade reading level one year earlier to a tenth-grade level last spring. His IQ rose six points into the average range. And he suddenly passed out of his pragmatic language skills/social skills class, which he had made little progress in throughout his life. (Pragmatic language skills are knowing what to say–and how and when to say it.)

I’m pleased to share that the impossible happened. Last fall, in 11th grade, the school moved Sammy out of special education and into all grade-level classes, an exceptional outcome that was beyond our expectations. It was a first for his high school and an accomplishment that Sammy takes great pride in.

Learning disabilities due to brain fog?

In hindsight, the learning disabilities were caused by severe brain fog. Once the brain fog lifted, his IQ, executive functioning, and learning abilities returned to normal. Unlike what I had been told by many professionals, low executive function was not due to improper development of his frontal lobe. Instead, the AD in ADHD was due to severe brain fog and was treatable.

Furthermore, although Sammy had taken social skills classes every year since kindergarten, he had never shown improvement until he was treated for Borrelia and Bartonella.  Now, on his own accord, Sammy wanted to come out of his room to hang out with the family. Our quiet, reclusive son became the most talkative one at the dinner table, leading family conversations on a host of new topics we had no idea he had knowledge of, like Simon Cowell, Kobe Bryant, and inflation!

Today, Sammy is studying for his ACTs and planning to attend a four-year college. This was unthinkable 18 months ago, when we expected Sammy to need lifetime care and be unable to hold a job.

Sammy is 80% recovered from ASD and is still undergoing treatment to resolve three remaining symptoms out of twenty-nine: OCD, neck roll tic, and social behaviors. Sadly, his social behavior regressed seven months after finishing the six-month disulfiram protocol, so we are retreating the Borrelia and seeing some improvement.

What happened to our son is a medical miracle. I am so grateful to every doctor who helped us.

I have written a memoir that I am working to publish to explain our long, difficult, but ultimately successful journey. Even at 17-years-old, it’s possible to reverse learning disabilities and see a great recovery from ASD!

Debbie Kimberg updates their story on Instagram at @HijackedBrains. She can be contacted at debbie.kimberg@gmail.com.

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HALLELUJAH!  This story clearly demonstrates the importance of treatment and the miraculous effects it can have.

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Category:

Activism, Autism, Bartonella, Lyme, Psychological Aspects, Treatment

Bioweapons Expert Speaks Out & Pentagon Unit A1266 Studies Bioterrorism Agents in Kazakhstan & Collects 40,000 Ticks

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/04/09/biolabs-in-ukraine

Bioweapons Expert Speaks Out About U.S. Bio labs in Ukraine

April 9, 2022

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola

Story at-a-glance

  • According to bioweapons expert Francis Boyle, Russia’s accusation that Ukraine is conducting U.S.-funded bioweapons research appears to be accurate
  • If true, everyone involved is subject to life in prison under the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989
  • According to Boyle, the U.S. government and Pentagon have had a “comprehensive policy” to “surround Russia with biological warfare laboratories” and “preposition biological weapons” there for use against them
  • The problem with trying to make a distinction between “biodefense” and “biowarfare” is that, basically, there is none. No biodefense research is purely defensive, because to do biodefense work, you’re automatically engaged in the creation of biological weapons, and all dual use research can be used for military purposes. SARS-CoV-2 may be the result of such dual use research
  • Boyle believes we can hold the culprits behind the SARS-CoV-2 bioweapon accountable by asking local prosecutors to convene a grand jury to seek the indictment of those responsible for the pandemic for murder and conspiracy to commit murder

Excerpts of article:

“InfoWars” host Owen Shroyer interviews Francis Boyle, Ph.D., a Harvard educated lawyer and bioweapons expert with a Ph.D. in political science, about the biolabs in Ukraine, which Russia claims are engaged in U.S.-funded bioweapons research.

While the U.S. has vehemently denied Russia’s accusations, Boyle says that based on what he’s discovered so far, the labs in Ukraine are all conducting biological warfare research — including ethnic-specific biological weapons — at the behest of the U.S. Pentagon, just as Russian authorities are claiming.

Go here for a background on biolabs in Ukraine.
Go here for background on Metabiota, a U.S. firm with ties to WEF, DOD & is implicated in a cover-up.

According to Boyle, the justification that the labs are for bio defense and health purposes is nothing but a façade for the fact that they’re conducting offensive biological warfare research with genetic research, gain-of-function and synthetic biology.

And if it is so innocent, why did the US embassy remove all evidence of Obama constructed Ukraine bio weapons labs from its website?

When asked what the motive behind this kind of research might be, Boyle highlights two potential reasons:

  1. a global “Nazi cult” that wants rid the world of certain ethnic groups, hence the focus on DNA-based ethnic-specific weapons. Please see this video of Dr. Ariyana Love on this topic as well as this supporting evidence
  2.  money – made on the research and creation of biological weapons, and money made on the supposed cures, be they vaccines or therapeutics

Boyle states that because our federal government has been captured by those who seek to destroy the U.S. from within, it’s highly unlikely federal authorities, even judges, will ever enforce the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act, but that we need to go to our local prosecutors, states’ attorneys, district attorneys, county attorneys, etc., who have been empowered by the 10th amendment and are accountable to the people of the community. These elected officials can convene a grand jury and return indictments for murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He recommends a two-step plan – the first of which is aimed at those responsible for the COVID ‘pandemic,’ and the second of which is aimed for those behind the COVID shots.  Go here to see the list of 27 State AGs Suing Biden Administration Over Vaccine Mandates.

I highly recommend following Boyle’s advice and contacting your State Attorney General.  Here is more information including a sample letter:  Letter to AG and the felony indictment notice:  https://www.davidmartin.world/attorney-general-document (This document clearly lays out the criminal conspiracy of COVID)

http://  Approx. 3 Min

July, 2020

Pentagon Unit A1266

Bioterrorism Agents in Kazakhstan

https://veritybase.info/pentagon-unit-a1266-studies-bioterrorism-agents-in-kazakhstan/  Full article & pictures Here

By Dilyana Gaytandzhieva

SUMMARY:

The U.S. military biological research program in Kazakhstan started in 2008 and the Pentagon has spent more than $300 MILLION on two bio labs in this former Soviet country doing risky biological research. The two labs are:

  • Central Reference Laboratory in Almaty (also known as Kazakh Scientific Center of Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases (KSCQZD)
  • Research Institute for Biological Safety Problems (RIBSP) in Otar

These labs are just two of the many Pentagon labs in 25 countries across the world. They are funded by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) under a $2.1 billion military program – Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP), and are located in former Soviet Union countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ukraine, the Middle East, South East Asia and Africa.

Unit A1266 and local scientists have collected 40,000 ticks from 13 regions in Kazakhstan. Why Kazakhstan? It borders Russia and China – the main rivals of the U.S.

They have isolated four bio-agents that post a serious bio-terrorism threat. The following bio agents have the potential to be engineered for mass aerosol dissemination and used as bioweapons:

A US Air Force C 17 cargo plane transported plague samples, a priority Pentagon project, from Kazakhstan the the U.S. as well as anthrax, tularemia, and coronavirus.  Plague has been developed as an aerosol weapon by several countries in the past.  The Pentagon project from 2015-2018 & funded by the DOD, showed all bat guano samples screened were positive for coronaviruses. 

More recently, Project GG-21, a five year long project with a possible 3 year extension studies “Arthropod-borne and zoonotic infections among military personnel in Georgia.”  Blood samples looking for the following pathogens will be obtained form 1,000 military recruits during their physical exam at the Georgian military hospital:

  • Bacillus anthracis
  • Brucella
  • CCHF virus
  • Coxiella burnetii
  • Francisella tularensis
  • Hantavirus
  • Rickettsia species
  • TBE virus
  • Bartonella species
  • Borrelia species
  • Ehlrichia species
  • Leptospira species
  • Salmonella typhi
  • WNV

The project report states:

“all volunteer deaths will be promptly reported (usually within 48 h of the PI being notified)” to the Georgian Military Hospital and WRAIR.

The author of the article points out that simply testing blood for antibodies cannot cause death, which raises the question why this statement is even given.

The results will NOT be given to the study participants and the samples will be stored at the controversial and heavily guarded Lugar Center, a U.S. funded (2.1 BILLION) Pentagon bio lab in the country of Georgia, known for laboratory incidents and scandals surrounding the US drug giant Gilead Science‘s Hepatitis C program which has resulted in at least 248 deaths. The cause of death in the majority of cases has been listed as unknown, internal documents have shown.

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) has funded a similar project involving soldiers in Ukraine code-named UP-8, which will look at the spread of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus and hantaviruses in Ukraine as well as the potential need for differential diagnosis in patients with suspected leptospirosis. The project started in 2017 and was extended until 2020, internal documents show.

This project will also collect blood samples from 4,400 healthy soldiers in Lviv, Kharkov, Odesa and Kyiv. 4,000 of these samples will be tested for antibodies against hantaviruses, and 400 for the presence of antibodies against Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus. The results of the blood testing will also not be provided to the study participants.

The project report also states:

“serious incidents, including deaths should be reported within 24 hours. All deaths of study subjects that are suspected or known to be related to the research procedures should be brought to the attention of the bioethics committees in the USA and Ukraine.”

But, again, simply testing blood does not cause deaths or serious incidents – begging the question, are these soldiers being infected and then tested?

Similarly to “vaccine” manufacturers, DTRA-sponsored scientists have full indemnity if they cause deaths or injuries to the local population.

For more:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/01/24/we-do-need-an-overhaul-of-public-health-just-not-the-way-walensky-wants/ And due to typical CDC bungling of every single thing it touches, there’s been a call for a public health overhaul.  Unfortunately, the Data Modernization Initiative’’ — a CDC plan to strengthen the health surveillance infrastructure will:

  • unify public health data systems at the state and federal levels
  • “help” states hire staff to work on data collection & analysis (using $3 BILLION CDC funds)
  • create a “Travelocity”-like system where a “cloud-based” framework would allow staff to quickly analyze data and understand what is happening in real-time. WHO minion Dr. Harari, a real life Dr. Evil, states “intelligent design, not created by “some God above the clouds,” “but our intelligent design,” and the “intelligent design of our Clouds, the IBM Cloud, the Microsoft Cloud, these are the new driving forces of evolution.”
  • This centralization and monopolization of health data will give the CDC even more power and authority, and sounds like a perfect prelude to global “vaccine” passports
The CDC already rules both research and the medical profession with an iron fist and medical freedom is increasingly under fire.

Nearly every single detail about the current COVID “White House Plan” is flawed.  Walensky wants to create an even more powerful federally based health system which further forces people into a box with no options or individualization, and which would be a top down approach where independent doctors wouldn’t stand a prayer of a chance.  As it is, independent doctors who dare defy the accepted narrative are being hunted down and persecuted.  These medical renegades are branded as giving “misinformation,” and Walenski’s plan would only amplify this polarization, and would take away the already few options for desperate patients.

 

Category:

Activism, Bartonella, Ehrlichiosis, Q Fever, research, Rickettsia, Ticks, Tularemia, Viruses

Emerging Rodent-Associated Bartonella: A Threat For Human Health?

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13071-022-05162-5

Emerging rodent-associated Bartonella: a threat for human health?

Parasites & Vectors volume 15, Article number: 113 (2022) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Species of the genus Bartonella are facultative intracellular alphaproteobacteria with zoonotic potential. Bartonella infections in humans range from mild with unspecific symptoms to life threatening, and can be transmitted via arthropod vectors or through direct contact with infected hosts, although the latter mode of transmission is rare. Among the small mammals that harbour Bartonella spp., rodents are the most speciose group and harbour the highest diversity of these parasites. Human–rodent interactions are not unlikely as many rodent species live in proximity to humans. However, a surprisingly low number of clinical cases of bartonellosis related to rodent-associated Bartonella spp. have thus far been recorded in humans.

Methods

The main purpose of this review is to determine explanatory factors for this unexpected finding, by taking a closer look at published clinical cases of bartonellosis connected with rodent-associated Bartonella species, some of which have been newly described in recent years. Thus, another focus of this review are these recently proposed species.

Conclusions

Worldwide, only 24 cases of bartonellosis caused by rodent-associated bartonellae have been reported in humans. Possible reasons for this low number of cases in comparison to the high prevalences of Bartonella in small mammal species are (i) a lack of awareness amongst physicians of Bartonella infections in humans in general, and especially those caused by rodent-associated bartonellae; and (ii) a frequent lack of the sophisticated equipment required for the confirmation of Bartonella infections in laboratories that undertake routine diagnostic testing. As regards recently described Bartonella spp., there are presently 14 rodent-associated Candidatus taxa. In contrast to species which have been taxonomically classified, there is no official process for the review of proposed Candidatus species and their names before they are published. This had led to the use of malformed names that are not based on the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. Researchers are thus encouraged to propose Candidatus names to the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes for approval before publishing them, and only to propose new species of Bartonella when the relevant datasets allow them to be clearly differentiated from known species and subspecies.

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**Comment**

Candidatus is a term in the taxonomy of bacteria that is put before the genus and species name of bacteria that cannot be maintained in a bacteriology culture collection (grown on an agar plate or in other culture). 

For more:

Category:

Bartonella, research

Lyme-Carrying Ticks in West Differ From Their Eastern Cousins

https://www.lymedisease.org/ixodes-pacificus-review/

LYME SCI: Lyme-carrying ticks in West differ from their Eastern cousins

March 21, 2022

By Lonnie Marcum

In most of the United States, a tick called Ixodes scapularis carries Lyme disease. However, in the Western states, there’s a different culprit—Ixodes pacificus—also known as the Western blacklegged tick.

A recent review article provides new insight into the pathogens carried by and diseases caused by Ixodes pacificus. The behavior, habitat and pathogens transmitted by the Western blacklegged tick differ from its Eastern cousin.

Notably, the authors state, ”I. pacificus carry several pathogens of human significance, such as Borrelia burgdorferi, Bartonella, and Rickettsiales.” (McVicar et al, 2022)

The authors, from the University of Nevada, published their report in a special issue of journal Pathogens. The article is entitled “Current Research on Hard Tick-Borne Diseases.”

The reviewers do a fantastic job of describing the ecological diversity and complex nature of ticks found in the Western US.

In fact, there are up to 20 different species of Ixodes (hard bodied) ticks reported in California alone. However, Ixodes pacificus is the only known vector for Lyme disease along the West Coast.

The additional hard tick species endemic to the West include Ixodes spinipalpis, I. angustus, I. neotomae, and I. jellisoni. Although these ticks prefer to feed on rodents, both I. spinipalpis and I. agustus occasionally bite humans.

Habitat

As pictured below, the Western blacklegged tick is well established throughout most of California, the coastal regions of Oregon and Washington, and parts of southern Nevada, northern Arizona and western Utah.

Note: Counties classified as “established” are those where six or more I. pacificus of a single life stage or more than one life stage of the tick were collected in the county within any 12-month period.

The ideal habitat for I. pacificus is one that is sheltered from hot, dry summers. Research has shown nymphal I. pacificus numbers start to decline when temperatures exceed 73º F (23º C), and average daily humidity drops below 83 – 85%. Excessive heat between 90º – 104º F (32º – 40º C) begins to kill off ticks.

The preferred microclimate includes moist, shady areas provided by trees, shrubs, leaf litter or undergrowth. I. pacificus are often found amongst dense oak woodlands, but they can also be found near beaches, and on rocks and picnic tables.

The full range of the Western blacklegged tick extends from Baja California, Mexico, to British Columbia, Canada, but not all of those areas have been thoroughly studied. The process of “active tick surveillance” is quite labor-intensive, and requires funding often not provided to vector-control districts.

Another method of tracking ticks can be done by citizens finding and reporting ticks themselves. This “passive surveillance” technique, as the authors point out, can sometimes give a broader picture from counties that do not conduct active surveillance.

Ticks found where previously undetected

For example, a Northern Arizona University study funded by Bay Area Lyme Disease Foundation received over16,000 ticks from 49 states between 2016-2017. In that study, blacklegged ticks were found in 83 counties (in 24 states) where they had not previously been recorded. (Nieto et al, 2018)

Another recent study looked at crowdsourced images submitted to “TickSpotters” between 2014-2019.  The tick image submissions identified potentially nine new counties of occurrence for I. pacificus across five states including: Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Idaho. (Kopsco et al, 2021)

Lifecycle

The lifecycle of Ixodes pacificus ticks generally lasts three years, compared to the I. scapularis which has a two-year life span. During this time, they go through four life stages: egg, larva, nymph, and adult.

After the eggs hatch, the ticks must have a blood meal at every stage to survive.

Blacklegged ticks can feed on mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. The ticks need a new host at each stage of their life. If the host is infected with a pathogen, any tick feeding on that animal will become infected as well.

Although rare, larval ticks may be infectious from birth as some tick-borne pathogens may be transmitted from the female tick to her eggs. This is called transovarial transmission.

Pathogens

The paper lists the pathogens and reservoir hosts associated with I. pacificus, accompanied by countless references. For those interested in full details, I recommend reading the review. This table recaps the authors’ second table, followed by a short recap of their findings. (McVicar et al, 2022)

Anaplasmosis

Anaplasmosis, also known as human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), is caused by the Anaplasma phagocytophilum bacterium (previously known as Ehrlichia phagocytophila or Ehrlichia equi).

It belongs to a larger group of bacteria known as Rickettsia, which infect white blood cells. I. pacificus is a vector for anaplasmosis in the western US. The infection rate of nymphal and adult I. pacificus ticks is 1% and 10% respectively.

Babesiosis

Babesiosis is a disease caused by a malaria-like parasite called Babesia, which infects red blood cells.

As I recently wrote, North America is “ground zero” for Babesiosis, a disease that can be passed from mother to unborn child and through blood transfusions.

On the East Coast, I. scapularis is the vector for babesiosis. On the West Coast, I. pacificus is the predicted vector for babesiosis, but researchers have been unable to confirm this.

One study that collected ticks from multiple sites in California found 3% of I. pacificus ticks were infected with Babesia odocoilei. This is an emerging pathogen not listed on the CDC website as a cause of babesiosis.

The authors state, “Although there is substantive evidence that ixodid ticks on the west coast (i.e., Ixodes angustus, Ixodes pacificus, and Ixodes spinipalpis) are vectors of B. duncani, this has not been yet experimentally confirmed.”  (McVicar et al, 2022)

Bartonellosis

Bartonella is a bacterium carried by many types of human-biting arthropods including fleas, flies, lice, ticks, and chiggers. In one California study, 19% of ticks tested positive for Bartonella.

“Molecular analysis showed a variety of Bartonella strains, which were closely related to cattle Bartonella and several known human-pathogenic Bartonella species and subspecies: B. henselae, B. quintana, B. washoensis, and B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, suggesting that I. pacificus adults could be a source for Bartonella infections in humans,” as stated by the authors. (McVicar et al, 2022)

Ehrlichiosis

Ehrlichiosis is a term that describes several different bacterial diseases caused by a group of intracellular bacteria called Ehrlichia. These pathogens cause two groups of human infections, called human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE.)

While the pathogens that cause HME and HGE are different, the symptoms of the disease are similar. Left untreated, both HME and HGE can be life-threatening.

I. pacificus ticks can carry both diseases. The average infection rate of HME and HGE in California’s I. pacificus ticks is 3.4% and 2.0% respectively.

Lyme disease

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.), a spirochete, causes Lyme disease in North America. The CDC estimates that 476,000 people contract Lyme every year in the US. That’s nearly 5 million cases in the past 10 years, making it the most important vector-borne disease in the nation.

There has been a great deal of research on Lyme disease in California, beginning with the pioneering work of Willy Burgdorfer, Bob Lane and Alan Barbour in the early 1980s.

On the west coast, in addition to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.), there are four additional Borrelia species within the B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) complex. These include B. americana, B. bissettiae, B. californensis, and B. lanei—the latter named after Bob Lane for his discovery.  However, B. burgdorferi s.s. is currently the only one of these recognized as causing Lyme disease.

Compare this to the eastern half of the country, with B. burgdorferi s.s. also causing Lyme disease, and only three additional species in the B. burgdorferi s.l complex: B. andersonii, B. kurtenbachii, and B. mayonii. (B. mayonii is also recognized as causing Lyme disease.)

Hard ticks can also carry one species of relapsing fever Borrelia—Borrelia miyamotoi. All other species of relapsing fever borreliosis are believed to be carried by soft ticks.

Several studies in and around the San Francisco Bay Area  have shown that the average infection rate of B. miyamotoi (5.1%) in I. pacificus ticks is higher than the rate of B. burgdorferi (1.3%). Although, depending on the location, infection rates for B. miyamotoi and B. burgdorferi can be as high as 17% and 6% respectively.

Co-infections

Co-infection with multiple pathogens is possible in animal hosts and ticks. Thus, a single tick bite can infect a human with more than one pathogen.

One study found that 14% of grey squirrels, a common host to I. pacificus ticks, were co-infected with B. burgdorferi and Anaplasma. Another study from Washington state found I. pacificus ticks co-infected with B. burgdorferi, B. miyamotoi. and Anaplasma.

In a more recent study, researchers tested ticks for up to five pathogens. In one area of California, infection rates were as high as 31%. (Salkeld et al, 2021)

While Lyme disease accounts for over 80% of all tick-borne cases in the U.S., spotted fever rickettsiosis, babesiosis, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis have also seen an increase over the past four decades.

It’s important for researchers and clinicians to know which pathogens co-exist in all regions of the U.S., including the West coast.

Conclusion

As climate changes, tick ecology changes. The authors recommend, “To fully understand these systems, interdisciplinary teams with expertise in tick biology, tick genetics and genomics, computational biology, geography, meteorology, veterinary and human health, as well as vector-control districts and public health, need to work together.”  (McVicar et al, 2022)

A great deal of work has been carried out on ticks in California. However, surveillance and ecological research is lacking in the other Western states.

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. She serves on a subcommittee of the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea  Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org.

Reference

Kopsco H,  Duhaime R, Mather T, (2021) Crowdsourced Tick Image-Informed Updates to U.S. County Records of Three Medically Important Tick Species, Journal of Medical Entomology.  58:6; 2412–2424, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab082

McVicar M, Rivera I, Reyes JB, Gulia-Nuss M. (2022) Ecology of Ixodes pacificus Ticks and Associated Pathogens in the Western United States. Pathogens. 2022 Jan 13;11(1):89. doi: 10.3390/pathogens11010089. PMID: 35056037; PMCID: PMC8780575.

Nieto NC, Porter WT, Wachara JC, Lowrey TJ, Martin L, Motyka PJ, et al. (2018) Using citizen science to describe the prevalence and distribution of tick bite and exposure to tick-borne diseases in the United States. PLoS ONE 13(7): e0199644. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199644

Salkeld D.J., Lagana D.M., Wachara J., Porter W.T., Nieto N.C. (2021) Examining prevalence and diversity of tick-borne pathogens in questing Ixodes pacificus ticks in California. Appl Environ Microbiol. Apr23:00319-21. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00319-21. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33893109.

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For more:

There’s an important link with the accepted narrative about”climate change” and the current COVID debacle.  If you are unaware of this connection, please take the time to go down a dark rabbit-hole that connects the dots. This news story reports on the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) ESG score, (environment, social, and corporate governance) which is similar to a credit score and is centered around sustainability & ethics.  Currently given only to corporations, it isn’t a stretch to imagine this extended to individuals. Like everything else, the system is subjective to whomever decides what “ethical, diverse, and sustainable” is.  The scores can change on a whim. Companies are changing slogans, censoring content, firing controversial people, and modifying behavior to ingratiate themselves to those in power. This system is already being used in China.

In this recent article, we learn about the WHO’s “pandemic treaty” which would yet further erode individual and medical freedom under the guise of pandemic preparedness and control.  Keep in mind the WHO already changed the definition of what a pandemic is that essentially allows them to proclaim any disease they deem a threat a ‘pandemic,’ despite the fact it doesn’t cause mass casualties.

You may ask what this has to do with climate change.  Everything.
The climate change moniker is a ruse for a huge power grab in terms in money and control.

While the world was distracted by Will Smith, the internal elite met at the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai where World Economic Forum (WEF) head Klaus Schwab and ilk spoke of a “longer-term narrative” to make the world “more resilient, more inclusive, and more sustainable.”

The WGS spent considerable time discussing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which form the core of the Agenda 2030, (formerly Agenda 21) itself part of The Great Reset agenda, as well as topics like Blockchain, AI, 6G, and Human Meta-Cities, a rebranding of the so-called Smart Cities.

Go here for a wonderful explanation of Agenda 2030.

Within the video you learn that Agenda 2030 is about inventory & control of all resources of the world:
food, water, energy, land, production, education, construction, yes, even people. The plan will clear out rural areas and relocate people to large cities where people will be tightly controlled, monitored, and managed with intrusive technology.  It will enforce Communitarianism – ruled by governments and companies: where the needs of the community trump individual rights and freedoms (which we are already seeing with COVID).  Dissidents will be outcasts – which we’ve also already experienced with COVID injection apartheid.

No less than 14 out of 17 sustainable development goals SDGs include vaccination or immunization.
What does vaccination have to do with green economies?

Schwab’s “the 4th Industrial Revolution,” is the “digital panopticon of the future, where digital surveillance is omnipresent and humanity uses digital technology to alter our lives. Often associated with terms like the Internet of Things, the Internet of Bodies, the Internet of Humans, and the Internet of Senses, this world will be powered by 5G and 6G technology.”  (Please note many believe this technology is dangerous to the human body and remains untested for adverse effects)

The truly frightening discussion was titled: The Invisible Government: Eliminating Bureaucracy Through Technology: “What goes unsaid in the panel description is that making the government “invisible” will actually lead to a world of no accountability for government and politicians. In reality, the Technocrats imagine a world where the tyrannical technological systems are invisible and the average person has zero recourse for preventing exclusion or punishment based on their social credit score.”

While few argue that the climate changes, as it always has since the beginning of time, many climate experts defy the accepted narrative and state political games are being played to create policy. Further, according to Pat Michaels, former president of the American Association of State Climatologists, it has warmed up around 1 degree Celsius since 1900, and life expectancy has doubled. Climatologists have also debunked that “global warming” is making storms worse and that carbon dioxide is harmful.

What is very real; however, is the concerted effort to engineer the earth’s climate.  Dane Wigington states “geoengineering must be considered weather and biological warfare due to the endless list of catastrophic downstream impacts and effects.”  He also states: “That massive covert government programs have been playing “God” with the biosphere for well over 60 years, perhaps even longer. In recent years the scope and scale of these devastating weather modification programs has been ramped up so much that the entire climate system and biosphere is now hanging in the balance.”

Excerpt:

Polymer nanofibers are a component of these operations. The science community has now confirmed that microplastics have been found in human blood and farm animals. These puzzle pieces are not hard to connect for any that conduct objective investigation. New studies now also confirm that plastic pollution could “make much of humanity infertile”. How well would this serve the objectives of those in power? Engineered winter weather and temperature whiplash scenarios are continuing wherever and whenever the climate engineers have compatible conditions for carrying out the highly toxic chemical ice nucleation cloud seeding operations. In the meantime the weather makers are relentlessly cutting off the flow of rain from the Western US. Crop production is being crushed while the stage is being set for yet another summer of record wildfires. What will it take for a greater percentage of the population to look up and connect the dots?”  source

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf78rEAJvhY  Video Here

The Dimming

Full Length Climate Engineering Documentary

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Bartonella, Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, research, Rickettsia, Ticks, Transmission