Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

Ticks Are Worldwide. We All Need To Learn More About Them

https://www.lymedisease.org/ticks-worldwide/

LYME SCI: Ticks are worldwide. We all need to learn more about them.

By Lonnie Marcum

worldwide ticks

A 17-year-old dies of Lyme carditis, a toddler falls into a coma after a tick bite, another mother recalls “He loved to dance,” after losing her one-year-old to Lyme disease.

Clearly, ticks and their diseases are things we all need to learn more about, to protect ourselves and our children.

So, what are ticks exactly, anyway?

Ticks are arachnids, related to spiders. Unlike insects, which have three body segments and six legs, ticks have one body segment and eight legs. Over the millennia, ticks have perfected living in every climate, on every continent..

There are two families of ticks found in the United States: hard ticks (Ixodidae) and soft ticks (Argasidae). Of the 900+ species of ticks found throughout the world, only a handful are known to bite and transmit disease to humans.

Both hard and soft ticks require a blood meal at each of their three life stages (larvae, nymph, adult.) They have mastered many techniques allowing them to go undetected. For example, their saliva helps numb the site of the bite so you don’t feel them.

I recently spoke with Thomas Mather, Ph.D, of the University of Rhode Island’s Center for Vector-Borne Disease and director of the TickEncounter Resource Center.  He has studied ticks since 1983 and is known as “The Tick Guy.” [1]

Here’s what I learned:

Tick season is year-round

Ticks are built to survive in nearly every environment and climate condition. Whether it is freezing cold, drenching rain, or sweltering heat, ticks keep on ticking. Except in areas where temperatures are extremely low or high, ticks will be active 365 days per year.

Tick activity slows when temperatures begin to drop below 45 ºF (6-7 ºC). But if temperatures are even 1º above freezing (32 ºF/0 ºC), ticks will be active. In winter, ticks can hibernate below leaf litter, which insulates them from the cold.

Ticks have a much harder time surviving low humidity. This is because ticks don’t drink water and require humidity (preferably above 85%) to absorb moisture. [2]

Dr. Mather says it’s a misconception that tick season end in the Fall.  “People think they no longer need protection because they perceive ticks die off when temperatures begin to drop. Ticks are less active in the winter months, but in fact, adult ticks are most active in the Fall.”

Larval-stage ticks are also active in August and September, but people don’t see them, Mather warns. Come springtime, the dangerous poppy seed size nymphal ticks are on the move. Thus, Mather encourages people to use tick bite prevention methods year round.

Tick-borne diseases are spreading

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans will get sick from diseases that are spread by animals. These are known as zoonotic diseases. Those that are spread directly from animal to human are called ‘direct zoonoses.’

Zoonotic diseases transferred from animals to humans by the bite of insects or arthropods are called ‘vector-borne zoonoses.’ (I wrote extensively about zoonotic diseases here.)

In fact, the majority of human diseases originate in animals. Of the 1,415 infectious diseases known to infect humans, 868 (61%) are zoonotic.[3] And according to the CDC “Each year around the world, it is estimated that zoonoses cause 2.5 billion cases of sickness and 2.7 million deaths.” [4]

Ticks carry more than Lyme

The CDC currently lists 16 tick-borne diseases of the United States that are known to cause disease in humans. These are transmitted by nine different tick species.

Some additional tick-borne diseases not listed by the CDC include Q-Fever (Coxiella burnetii), Babesia duncani, Babesia divergens, Borrelia americana, Borrelia bissetti, Borrelia hermsii, and Borrelia parkeri.

There is increasing evidence that we should add Bartonella to the list of tick-borne pathogens. However, it’s important to remember that Bartonella is also transmitted by fleas, flies, mites and lice. The risk for Bartonella is widespread.

It is important to know which tick-borne diseases reside in your county and any areas you travel to. For instance, my state of California has a huge variation of habitat that runs from the ocean to deserts to snowcapped mountains. Thus, the types of ticks and diseases they carry can vary tremendously. (I wrote about the 11 different tick-borne diseases found in California here)

Understanding your risks

Because only six of the 16 listed U.S. tick-borne disease are reportable to the CDC, it can be difficult to know the risks for these infections. The first step is to know what types of ticks live in your area.

Dr. Mather emphasizes the importance of identifying any tick you find on yourself or your pet. “They all carry different germs. What we’ve learned from over 50,000 Tick Spotter submissions is that people really aren’t that good at identifying ticks. Identifying the tick gets you started in the right direction.”

[Note: Because ticks are very hard to identify, if you find a tick, I highly recommend submitting a picture to the Tick Spotters. They typically give an answer within three days.]

It’s also valuable to look to the veterinary data on what types of infections are found in dogs in your area. In 2011, the CDC noted that the rate of canine Lyme can be a useful tool for determining the human risk of the disease.  [5] And a new study affirms, because dogs share an environment (home, yard, parks, etc.) with their humans, the most accurate way to determine your risk for Lyme disease is the rate of infection in dogs. [6]

This new research comes from the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC), and they have made an interactive map that is easy to use. Their website is also chock full of information about pet health listed from A to Z.

To identify your own risk, I recommend going to CAPC’s Parasite Prevalence Maps and clicking on your state, then clicking on your county. From there you can browse between three major types of Tick Borne Disease Agents (Lyme Disease, Anaplasmosis & Ehrlichiosis) to see the number of dogs that tested positive in your county for each of the past eight years.

Lessons from man’s best friend

When I was talking to Professor Mather, we were laughing when I told him I think our ets have better healthcare than humans. He actually did a survey that supports my assertion.

He says they surveyed a number of people walking their dogs in park lands in the spring time. “We found over 90% of people admitted that their dog was on some type of protection. But when we asked about the human, only 2-3 feet away on the other end of the leash, less than 10% were taking any precautions for themselves.”

Dr. Mather says there are basically two categories of ticks on your dog. Those that are attached and feeding and those that are loose and wandering. “For people, it’s the loose and wandering ones that are the danger because they might decide to transfer over to and bite the person.”

Mather also divides flea/tick control products for pets into two broad categories: “bite-to-kill” and “quick knock-down products.” He says, “what we call bite-to-kill products can protect the pet from getting some diseases, but they don’t protect the people from the loose and wandering ticks. We always recommend that you talk with your veterinarian when choosing a product.”  (For more about Ticks and Dogs see my previous post)

Moving forward

After my daughter’s tick-borne illness, the sight of a tick used to trigger panic in me. Since returning from an Arthropod-Borne Disease Symposium, I’ve gained more respect for ticks’ ability to survive and flourish on our planet.

I am honored to have been named to serve on the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group’s subcommittee on Tick Biology, Ecology and Control. And I’m encouraged to learn how motivated other members are to halt the spread of ticks and the pathogens they carry.

Hopefully, by gaining a better understanding of these little monsters, we will figure out ways to stop the spread of Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections. I look forward to sharing with my readers what I learn and the progress we make.

Helpful Resources:

AKC | Keep Your Dog Safe From Fleas and Ticks With These 10 Prevention Tips

Bay Area Lyme | Free tick testing

CAPC | Tick Guidelines

CDC | Preventing Tick Bites

Tick Encounter | Prevention

Tick Spotters | Did you find a tick?

Tick Tracker App | Report and track your tick

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea  Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org .

References:

  1. Personal interview, Thomas Mather, Ph.D University of Rhode Island’s Center for Vector-Borne Disease and director of the TickEncounter Resource Center, also known as “The Tick Guy” @thetickguy on Twitter.
  2. Suss J, et al. (2008) What Makes Ticks Tick? Climate Change, Ticks, and Tick‐Borne Diseases America. J Travel Med. org/10.1111/j.1708-8305.2007.00176.x
  3. Asokan, G. V., Asokan, V., & Tharyan, P. (2011). One health national programme across species on zoonoses: a call to the developing world. Infection ecology & epidemiology, 1, 10.3402/iee.v1i0.8293. doi:10.3402/iee.v1i0.8293
  4. CDC One Health Fact Sheet | Saving Lives by Taking a One Health Approach. Connecting human, animal and environmental health.
  5. Mead P, et al. (2011) Canine serology as adjunct to human Lyme disease surveillance. Emerg Infect Dis 17:1710-2 doi: 3201/1709.110210
  6. Yan L, et al. (2019) Quantifying the relationship between human Lyme disease and Borellia burgdorferi and exposure in domestic dogs. Geospatial Health org/10.4081/gh.2019.750

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For more: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/27/ticks-spread-plenty-more-for-you-to-worry-about-beyond-lyme-disease/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/25/lyme-disease-cases-are-exploding-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse/

 

Category:

Lyme, Ticks

Ticks are Everywhere. Don’t Believe Me? I was Bitten in My Own Bed

https://globallymealliance.org/ticks-are-everywhere-dont-believe-me-i-was-bitten-in-my-own-bed/

Ticks are Everywhere.  Don’t Believe Me? I Was Bitten in My Own Bed

Copy-of-MyLymeLife_2-6-1

By Caroline Lewis

Tick prevention was never something that crossed my mind growing up, despite living in Fairfield, Connecticut. I would often go on hikes with my family and friends or walk my dog without a care in the world. I went to summer camp in Maine for eight weeks every summer for six summers, and was never bitten, or even taught about tick-bite prevention.

That all changed on Wednesday, June 26th, 2019. On that morning, I got out of the shower to start my normal post-shower routine. As I was rubbing in lotion on my left arm, I felt a small bump. I looked down to see a black tick attached to my arm. I panicked.  Everything I had read about Lyme disease while working for GLA flooded my mind.

Now how ironic is this? Luckily, the day before I was bitten, I took home from GLA a tick removal tool that we include in our Be Tick AWARE prevention kits, with the intent of giving it to my mom to use on my dog.  Little did I know that I would be using them to extract a tick from myself less than 24 hours later. After carefully removing all of the tick with the tweezers, I placed it into a plastic bag (OK, two bags just to be safe), and brought it to work to show everyone that their newest member of the team had been bitten by the very menace that those of us at GLA fear the most.

In my case, I got this tick bite from simply being in my own home. I did not go outside that day (except to go to work); I did not hike; I did not walk my dog in the woods; I didn’t go near beach grasses; I didn’t roll about in fallen leaves, and so on. I should not have gotten a tick bite, but I did. I came home from work and stayed inside for the rest of the night.

Ticks are everywhere, and that is something you cannot allow yourself to forget.

Back at work I went to my boss and told her what had happened.  Soon, the whole office was invested in my story, with our scientists looking at the tick with a magnifying glass. We concluded that the tick most likely came into my house on my dog and was in my arm for less than 24 hours, since I would have noticed it when I changed my clothes the night before, or I would have seen it on my arm during the day.

I logged onto the GLA website so I could find a lab to test my tick. I ended up choosing UMass Laboratory of Medical Zoology in Amherst, Massachusetts since they offered to test the tick for common tick-borne co-infections as well as the Lyme disease bacterium.  I packed the tick up and sent it off.

The UMass Labs sent me convenient texts and emails whenever they discovered something new about the tick. For example, they updated me on when received my tick.

However, while getting those texts and emails was admittedly great customer service, I grew more anxious waiting for the actual test results.  My mind was swirling with the worst possible fears and I could not relax.  My heart would race every time I thought about the rick results, filling me with anxieties.

Flash forward to Monday, July 1st, 2019: The tick tested positive for the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, but none of its co-infections.  It was a black-legged deer tick in the nymph stage, and it was only partially fed – confirming our guess that the tick was attached to me for less than 24 hours.  This fact calmed me because I remembered reading that it’s typically accepted that that the tick needs to be feeding for at least 24 hours in order to infect a person with Lyme disease.  I’ll be okay, I thought, it was only attached for around 12 hours.

On Friday, July 5th, I was waiting at the DMV when I noticed a small red rash around my tick bite.

Oh no, I thought, there’s no way! I quickly scheduled a doctor’s appointment for later that day. I have a doctor who has seen me since birth, however, she wasn’t available on such short notice. So, I saw another doctor within the same practice.

When I arrived, the doctor did not believe I had been bitten by a tick and questioned me intensely.  She also stated that the rash was less than 5cm, so she did not think it was a tick bite – just an inflamed insect bite. This doctor completely dismissed my tick bite, and even told me that sending a tick out for testing was useless, ultimately crushing my confidence and making me question my certainty. Yes, this happened in Lyme endemic CT.

She sent me home with the words “keep an eye on.”  The whole appointment lasted around five minutes. I started to feel like the majority of Lyme patients out there who see doctors who steadfastly refuse to believe them no matter the iron-clad evidence. I started second guessing myself. What if I’m just allergic to tick bites generally?  What if the lab misidentified the bug in my arm? This caused extreme anxiety all weekend.

When I returned to work that Monday, I felt defeated. I hadn’t looked at my rash that morning, but when I revealed my arm to my coworkers, it was clear that a bulls-eye rash had formed.

My coworkers suggested meeting with my trusted family doctor this time to check out the rash.  Later that day, my family doctor was available, and she took a look at my arm. She gasped and exclaimed that I needed doxycycline immediately.  She even asked if she could show her intern my rash, claiming it was a perfect example of a Lyme bulls-eye rash.

My bull’s eye rash continued to get worse after I started Doxy.  Here are some pictures of the first three days after I started the antibiotics. By now the rash has diminished and is completely gone.

Here are pictures of my bulls-eye from July 9th to July 11th.

I was relieved to get a final diagnosis, I also felt extremely lucky.  Not lucky in the sense that I had contracted Lyme disease, but lucky because I had the bull’s eye rash, which is a classic symptom of Lyme. Many people who’ve been bitten by a tick never recall the tick, or even develop a rash. Lucky, too, that I had a doctor who knew the science and believed in me. Moreover, because I found the tick which had bitten me in a very conspicuous place. Sadly, a lot of Lyme patients aren’t so fortunate.

Looking back, it is almost amusing that in my whole life I was never bitten by a tick until I started working at Global Lyme Alliance. Every time I tell my story, it leaves my friends and family gaping in disbelief.

This experience has given me a small window into what some Lyme patients face, from physical fatigue to physician dismissal – it’s utterly frustrating. Admittedly, my round of horror was relatively brief, and the odds for recovery are in my favor as I started treatment so early. Consider those who are suffering for years and never know what they are suffering from, often because of the lack of understanding by too many physicians and the lack of accurate diagnostics.

My thanks to GLA for providing me with this platform so I could share my Lyme story.  Thanks, too, for providing me with the resources and guidance to help me get through this trying process.

And to those who think you’re immune from a tick bite, think again. I was bit inside of my own house!

Caroline is Global Lyme Alliance’s social media and marketing intern for the summer of 2019.  She is from Fairfield, Connecticut, only one hour away from the birthplace of Lyme disease, Old Lyme, CT.  She is a rising senior at Denison University in Granville, Ohio and she is studying Psychology.

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**Comment**

A great narrative for a number of reasons:

  1. It demonstrates the ignorance of the medical profession regarding Lyme/MSIDS.
  2. It shows ticks are everywhere and due diligence is required for all.
  3. It shows the rash can change. The first doctor should have jumped on this. It is this type of denial that’s destroying lives. The risk of a few weeks of antibiotics pales in comparison to years of heart ache, pain, and expensive treatment.
  4. The words, “wait and see,” regarding Lyme/MSIDS should never be uttered from a doctor’s mouth. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
  5. Shame on GLA for not warning this woman that transmission can occur much quicker than 24 hours. This type of mythology has prevailed for far too long and needs to end. Again, with Lyme/MSIDS it’s wisest to err on the side of caution. Her case proves that transmission can and often does occur in under 12 hours:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/04/14/transmission-time-for-lymemsids-infection/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks

UK Lyme Disease Cases ‘Three Times Higher Than Estimated’

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/916256

UK Lyme Disease Cases ‘Three Times Higher Than Estimated’

Tim Locke

August 01, 2019

Current annual estimates of confirmed Lyme disease cases are between 2000 and 3000 in England and Wales, according to Public Health England.

However, research published in BMJ Open suggests the real figure for the tick-borne disease could be three times higher and may reach more than 8000 this year although an expert has urged caution, saying the findings could be an overestimation.

A second study published in the same journal supported targeted public health intervention at identified Lyme disease hotspots.

General Practice Data

The research team analysed anonymised data from Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) between 2001 and 2012. This covered around 8.4 million individuals from 658 general practices – around 8% of the UK population.

Lyme disease diagnoses were categorised as

  • Diagnosed clinically (1702, 42%)
  • Suspected and treated (1913, 47%)
  • Possible and treated (468, 11%)

Summers saw the highest number of Lyme disease cases and the largest amount were in Scotland. This was thought to be due to the popularity of hiking, and a rainier climate. The regions coming second and third for Lyme disease incidence were South Central England and South West England, but cases were seen in all areas.

CPRD recorded cases rose from 60 in 2001 to 595 in 2012, and a UK-wide estimate of 7738 for 2012.

Unsurprising Findings

“I wasn’t very surprised, because plenty of people have been suggesting that the incidence is higher than has been estimated,” one of the study authors, retired doctor Victoria Cairns from Oxford told Medscape News UK.

With some diseases, incidence can rise along with public and medical awareness of symptoms. However, “There’s more I think,” Dr Cairns said: “Every year there is more.”

The new research paper doesn’t speculate about the reasons for the growth in cases. “Other people have speculated that it’s climate change, Dr Cairns said. “There are all sorts of explanations. Partly, climate change is warmer. In some places, there are more deer so ticks are feeding off different animals, so that could be part of it.”

She has a personal interest in the subject: “I have had Lyme disease, quite a long time ago.”

She documented it – and post-Lyme disease symptoms – in the International Journal of Epidemiology in 2005.

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For more: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/13/study-shows-lyme-not-propelled-by-climate-change/  Warm winters are lethal to black legged ticks.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks

CCHF in Republic of Sudan: A Retrospective Study

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6645580/

. 2019 Jul; 13(7): e0007571.
Published online 2019 Jul 10. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007571
PMCID: PMC6645580
PMID: 31291242

Detection of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever cases in a severe undifferentiated febrile illness outbreak in the Federal Republic of Sudan: A retrospective epidemiological and diagnostic cohort study

Hilary Bower, Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing,1,2,‡*Mubarak El Karsany, Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing,3,4,‡ Mazza Alzain, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing – review & editing,5Benedict Gannon, Data curation, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review & editing,1,6Rehab Mohamed, Data curation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing,4 Iman Mahmoud, Data curation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing,4 Mawahib Eldegail, Data curation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing,4Rihab Taha, Data curation, Investigation, Writing – review & editing,4 Abdalla Osman, Project administration, Writing – review & editing,4 Salim Mohamednour, Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,5,¤aAmanda Semper, Conceptualization, Data curation, Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing,7 Barry Atkinson, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7,¤b Daniel Carter, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Stuart Dowall, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Jenna Furneaux, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Victoria Graham, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Jack Mellors, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7Jane Osborne, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Steven T. Pullan, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Gillian S. Slack, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Tim Brooks, Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7 Roger Hewson, Methodology, Writing – review & editing,7Nicholas J. Beeching, Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing,8 Jimmy Whitworth, Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing,1,2 Daniel G. Bausch, Writing – review & editing,1,6,9 and Tom E. Fletcher, Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing8,‡
Darci Smith, Editor

Abstract
Background

Undifferentiated febrile illness (UFI) is one of the most common reasons for people seeking healthcare in low-income countries. While illness and death due to specific infections such as malaria are often well-quantified, others are frequently uncounted and their impact underappreciated. A number of high consequence infectious diseases, including Ebola virus, are endemic or epidemic in the Federal Republic of Sudan which has experienced at least 12 UFI outbreaks, frequently associated with haemorrhage and high case fatality rates (CFR), since 2012. One of these occurred in Darfur in 2015/2016 with 594 cases and 108 deaths (CFR 18.2%). The aetiology of these outbreaks remains unknown.

Methodology/Principal findings

We report a retrospective cohort study of the 2015/2016 Darfur outbreak, using a subset of 65 of 263 outbreak samples received by the National Public Health Laboratory which met selection criteria of sufficient sample volume and epidemiological data. Clinical features included fever (95.8%), bleeding (95.7%), headache (51.6%) and arthralgia (42.2%). No epidemiological patterns indicative of person-to-person transmission or health-worker cases were reported. Samples were tested at the Public Health England Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory using a bespoke panel of likely pathogens including haemorrhagic fever viruses, arboviruses and Rickettsia, Leptospira and Borrelia spp. Seven (11%) were positive for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) by real-time reverse transcription PCR. The remaining samples tested negative on all assays.

Conclusions/Significance

CCHFV is an important cause of fever and haemorrhage in Darfur, but not the sole major source of UFI outbreaks in Sudan. Prospective studies are needed to explore other aetiologies, including novel pathogens. The presence of CCHFV has critical infection, prevention and control as well as clinical implications for future response. Our study reinforces the need to boost surveillance, lab and investigative capacity to underpin effective response, and for local and international health security.

Author summary
The Federal Republic of Sudan has had at least 12 outbreaks of febrile illness of unknown cause associated with symptoms of haemorrhage and high case fatality rates since 2012. Outbreaks without clear diagnosis are concerning, particularly in countries such as Sudan where a range of high consequence diseases, including viral haemorrhagic fevers, are endemic or epidemic, and local laboratory capacity is limited. We transferred historical samples stored in the National Public Health Authority from one of these outbreaks that occurred in Darfur 2015–2016 to the Public Health England Laboratory at Porton, UK, and tested them against a wide range of infectious diseases to try to identify the cause, and to help the Sudanese Federal Ministry of Health to develop and target their limited laboratory capacity. We found that Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever was an important cause but not the only source of cases in this outbreak. This has implications for prevention and control as well as for treating cases. Our study also highlighted the need for future studies to explore other possible causes, including new pathogens, and reinforced the need to boost surveillance, lab and investigative capacity for more timely and complete outbreak response.

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More on CCHF: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/03/deadly-ticks-carrying-ebola-like-congo-fever-found-in-uk-after-spreading-across-europe/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/19/monster-ticks-found-in-germany-threaten-europe-with-deadly-disease-crimean-congo-fever/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/23/crimean-congo-hemorrhagic-fever-outbreak-in-africa/

H. rufipes on the UK horse:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/11/african-tick-found-on-untraveled-u-k-horse/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/14/crimean-congo-the-asian-ebola-virus/

 

Not to be confused with SFTS, CCHF is often treated with Ribavirin: http://infectious-diseases-and-treatment.imedpub.com/research-advances-on-epidemiology-of-severefever-with-thrombocytopenia-syndrome-asystematic-review-of-the-literature.php?aid=17986

Ribavirin is reported to be effective for treating Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) infections and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, but it is still inadequate to judge the effect of ribavirin on SFTS patients because of the study limitation without adequate parameters were investigated [45]. Host immune responses play an important role in determining the severity and clinical outcome in patients with infection by SFTSV

Category:

Ticks, Viruses

Lyme Disease Amendment Passes House – Tells DOD IG To Investigate the ‘Bioweaponization’ of Ticks

https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=405995

News Item

Chris Smith’s Lyme Disease Amendment Passes House, Tells DOD IG to Investigate the ‘Bioweaponization’ of Ticks

Washington, Jul 12, 2019 | Jeff Sagnip (202-225-3765)

• Rep. Smith addresses colleagues on the House floor July 11, 2019 on his Lyme disease amendment.

The full House of Representatives passed an amendment offered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) which directs the Inspector General (IG) of the Department of Defense to investigate the “possible involvement of DOD biowarfare labs in the weaponization of Lyme disease in ticks and other insects”  from 1950-1975.

According to Smith, he was “inspired to write the amendment”—now part of the House-passed 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—by “a number of books and articles suggesting that significant research had been done at U.S. government facilities including Fort Detrick, Maryland and Plum Island, New York to turn ticks and other insects into bioweapons.”

During debate on the floor, Smith said that, “The most recent book—Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons—includes interviews with Dr. Willy Burgdorfer—the researcher who is credited with discovering Lyme disease.  The book reveals that Dr. Burgdorfer was a bioweapons specialist. Those interviews combined with access to Dr. Burgdorfer’s lab files suggest that he and other bioweapons specialists stuffed ticks with pathogens to cause severe disability, disease—even death—to potential enemies.”

“With Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases exploding in the United States—with an estimated 300,000 to 437,000 new cases diagnosed each year and 10-20 percent of all patients suffering from chronic Lyme disease—Americans have a right to know whether any of this is true.  And have these experiments caused Lyme disease and other tick-borne disease to mutate and to spread?” Smith asked.

“My amendment tasks the DOD Inspector General to ask the hard questions and report back,” he said.   During debate on his amendment, Smith said the investigation would explore such questions as:

•  “what were the parameters of the program?

•  who ordered it?

•  was there ever any accidental release anywhere or at any time of any diseased ticks?

•  were any ticks released by design?

•  did the program contribute to the disease burden?

•  can any of this information help current-day researchers find a way to mitigate these diseases?”

Smith has a long record of fighting for people suffering from Lyme disease.  He is the author of the pending bipartisan, bicameral TICK Act introduced earlier this year to create a whole-of-government national strategy to aggressively fight Lyme disease.  The TICK Act (Ticks: Identify, Control, Knockout Act) (HR 3073) authorizes an additional $180 million to boost funding for Lyme research, prevention and treatment programs.

Smith—who is the founding co-chair of the House Lyme Disease Caucus along with Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN)—said the bill provides $60 million over five years to reauthorize the Regional Centers of Excellence in Vector Borne Disease which have led the scientific response against tick-borne diseases.  And the bill authorizes new CDC grants for a total of $120 million over six years, to build a public health infrastructure for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. The legislation is supported by more than 25 non-government organizations dedicated to combating Lyme.

In June, the House of Representatives adopted two other Smith amendments to boost funding for combating Lyme disease.  One amendment, (Division C of H.R. 2740, adopted June 18th), adds $2 million to the DOD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) for Tick-Borne Disease Research which primarily helps service personnel and their families exposed to Lyme. The program is currently funded at $5 million.

On June 12th, the House adopted Smith’s amendment to add $1 million for Lyme disease research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC currently spends $11 million on Lyme research.

This spring, Smith hosted a Congressional town meeting on Lyme disease in Wall Township, NJ, featuring a panel of national experts including Dr. Ben Beard, Deputy Director of the Division on Vector-Borne Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; Pat Smith, President of the Lyme Disease Association; and Dr. Richard Horowitz, an Internist and expert in treating patients with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/24/lyme-disease-expert-champions-investigation-into-pentagon-weaponizing-ticks-its-a-courageous-move/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/19/biological-warfare-experiment-on-american-citizens-results-in-spreading-pandemic/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/21/got-15-minutes-the-officially-ignored-link-between-lyme-plum-island/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/31/tick-expert-admits-to-working-on-ticks-dropping-them-out-of-airplanes/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/17/where-lyme-disease-came-from-and-why-it-eludes-treatment/

Category:

Activism, Ticks, Uncategorized