Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

U.S. – Mexico Border Ranches Stricken By Fever Ticks

https://www.drovers.com/article/us-mexico-border-ranches-stricken-fever-ticks

U.S.-Mexico Border Ranches Stricken by Fever Ticks

cattle-fever-tick-in-hand
Ranchers along the U.S.-Mexico border say the disease carried by fever ticks has devastated their operations. ( Texas A&M AgriLife )

According to data from the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), 2,655 premises, totaling 950,500 acres, are under quarantine in Texas due to fever ticks, and ranchers along the U.S.-Mexico border say the disease they carry has devastated their operations.

Fever ticks can carry a parasite that causes Babesia bovis or B. bigemina, commonly known as cattle fever. The Babesia organism attacks and destroys red blood cells, causing acute anemia, high fever, and enlargement of the spleen and liver, ultimately resulting in death for up to 90 percent of susceptible naive cattle.

TAHC says portions of eight South Texas counties have established fever tick quarantines. The counties include, Cameron, Live Oak, Kinney, Maverick, Starr, Webb, Willacy and Zapata.

Texas rancher Richard Guerra’s 9,000 acre ranch a mile north of the border has been quarantined 22 times in the past 15 years. Guerra told the Epoch Times his ranch has been idle for the past four years because it has become cost-prohibitive for him to run cattle due to fever ticks. At full capacity, he could run 1,000 cattle.

Guerra’s ranch is near Rio Grande City, and with no fencing in the area, cattle and deer crossing the border from Mexico can bring ticks that infect U.S. herds.

“Right now, one of our biggest problems, even though we do have some human trafficking, is the problem with fever tick. Fever tick comes from Mexico. Mexico does nothing to control it,” Guerra told the Epoch Times.

There is no cure or vaccine for the fever tick, and Guerra’s biggest hope now is for a border wall to be built, cutting access for the wildlife bringing the tick over the border.

“Texas is in the midst of an outbreak, which have been happening periodically since 1960,” says Callie Ward, communications director for the TAHC. “Many cattle, equine, cervids, and nilgai antelope that cross from Mexico into Texas carry fever ticks. USDA employs mounted tick patrols (tick riders) whose job is to ride horses along the border looking for stray animals that may wander from Mexico. They apprehend and treat the animals.”

Fore more on cattle fever ticks in Texas and along the Mexican border read the following articles:

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**Comment**

Before you brush this off as a “cattle disease,” with no known cure, these two sources state that B. bovis has occasionally infected humans:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babesia_bovis

https://www.revolvy.com/page/Babesia-bovis

Cattle fever ticks supposedly do NOT attach to humans:

Potential hosts of cattle fever ticks include, but are not limited to: cattle, horses, white- tailed deer, and exotic hoofstock, such as nilgai antelope and red deer.  https://www.tahc.texas.gov/news/brochures/TAHCBrochure_FeverTick.pdf

https://entomology.tamu.edu/extension/cattle-fever-tick-information/  According to this article, there are no pesticides approved for treating pastures for cattle fever ticks, and there are no tick vaccines approved for use.  There is a field trial of a tick vaccine underway.  https://entomology.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/ENTO-065-Cattle-Fever-Ticks.pdf  There are two species of Cattle fever ticks: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus and the southern cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus. The pdf also shows a picture of the tick and gives tick control options for cattle. Use the Tick App, a free smartphone application available at http://tickapp.tamu.edu, and the Texas Animal Health Commission’s website at http://www.tahc.texas.gov/regs/code.html for information on tick treatment options, tick quarantine and associated regulations, as well as the latest updates on current quarantines.

Other Babesia species have been shown to cause disease besides B. microti, B. duncani, MO-1, B. divergens:  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3998201/

More than 100 species of babesia subsequently have been identified in wild and domestic animals.[]

The first human case of babesiosis was in a cattle farmer presenting with fever, anemia and hemoglobinuria. He was asplenic and died of renal insufficiency during the second week of illness. Initially reported as Babesia bovis, the link states it was most likely was Babesia divergens, another pathogen of cattle.

If B. divergens can infect cattle & humans, why not B. bovis?

Human babesiosis is now reported from around the world.

I only write this to show that even these other species at one time were thought to only utilize animal hosts, but with time, were shown to be able to also infect humans.

For more on the organism & treatments:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/  Important note:

As early as 1996, it was known that when a patient has Lyme and Babesia, Lyme is found three-times more frequently in the blood, causing more symptoms of longer duration & of greater severity:  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/14563700_Concurrent_Lyme_Disease_and_Babesiosis_Evidence_for_Increased_Severity_and_Duration_of_Illness

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/28/concurrent-babesiosis-and-lyme-in-patient/  Great example of a previously healthy 39-year-old male presenting to the emergency department (ED) with generalized severe headaches for eight days and fever for four days. Abdominal examination was normal except for a swollen spleen.

These headaches are surreal, BTW.

Again in 2006, some of the same authors of the concurrent LD and Babesia study, state:

“Physicians should consider use of tests designed to diagnose babesiosis and HGE in patients with Lyme disease who experience a prolonged flulike illness that fails to respond to appropriate antiborrelial therapy.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11941544

So, even then they recognized the polymicrobial aspect of Lyme, yet nothing’s been done about it.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/30/study-shows-lyme-msids-patients-infected-with-many-pathogens-and-explains-why-we-are-so-sick/

Research gets done but nothing changes.  It’s still 21 days of doxy….. period.

http://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-diagnosis-almost-missed-in-patient-with-babesia/  Great article by Dr. Cameron on patients who nearly slipped through the cracks.

 

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Ticks

Rickettsiales in Ticks Removed From Outdoor Workers From Georgia & Florida

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/25/5/18-0438_article

Volume 25, Number 5—May 2019

Research Letter

Rickettsiales in Ticks Removed from Outdoor Workers, Southwest Georgia and Northwest Florida, USA

Elizabeth R. Gleim1Comments to Author , L. Mike Conner, Galina E. Zemtsova, Michael L. Levin, Pamela Wong, Madeleine A. Pfaff, and Michael J. Yabsley  DOI: 10.3201/eid2505.180438

The southeastern United States has multiple tick species that can transmit pathogens to humans. The most common tick species, Amblyomma americanum, is the vector for the causative agents of human ehrlichioses and southern tick-associated rash illness, among others (1). Dermacentor variabilis ticks can transmit the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Ixodes scapularis ticks can transmit the causative agents of Lyme disease, babesiosis, and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (1). Although less common in the region, A. maculatum ticks are dominant in specific habitats and can transmit the causative agent of Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis (1).

Persons who have occupations that require them to be outside on a regular basis might have a greater risk for acquiring a tickborne disease (2). Although numerous studies have been conducted regarding risks for tickborne diseases among forestry workers in Europe, few studies have been performed in the United States (2,3). The studies that have been conducted in the United States have focused on forestry workers in the northeastern region (2). However, because of variable phenology and densities of ticks, it is useful to evaluate tick activity and pathogen prevalence in various regions and ecosystems.

Burn-tolerant and burn-dependent ecosystems, such as pine (Pinus spp.) and mixed pine forests commonly found in the southeastern United States, have unique tick dynamics compared with those of other habitats (4). The objective of this study was to determine the tick bite risk and tickborne pathogen prevalence in ticks removed from forestry workers working in pine and mixed pine forests in southwest Georgia and northwest Florida, USA.

During June 2009–December 2011, forestry workers in southwestern Georgia (7 counties) and northwestern Florida (1 county) submitted ticks crawling on or attached to them. We identified ticks and tested them for selected pathogens (Appendix). Immature forms of the same species from the same day and person were pooled (<5 nymphs and <20 larvae) for testing.

A total of 53 persons submitted 362 ticks (Table). Excluding larvae, the most common tick species submitted was A. maculatum, followed by A. americanum, I. scapularis, and D. variabilis. On 4 occasions, 1 person submitted A. tuberculatum ticks (3 batches of larvae and 1 batch of nymphs) from a longleaf pine site in Baker County, Georgia. Average submissions per persons were 2.6 ticks (median 1 tick), but 1 person submitted 100 ticks. A total of 24 persons submitted ticks more than once, and they submitted an average of 0.08–6.5 ticks/month (overall average submission rate of 1.1 ticks/month). Three ticks were engorged (1 D. variabilis adult, 1 A. americanum nymph, and 1 Amblyomma sp. nymph); only the Amblyomma sp. nymph was positive for a pathogen (R. amblyommatis).

  • Rickettsia spp. prevalence was 36.4% in adult, 27.9% in nymphal, and 20% in larval A. americanum ticks; R. amblyommatis was the only species identified (Table).
  • Rickettsia spp. were detected in 23% of A. maculatum adults; R. amblyommatis was most common (6.0%), followed by R. parkeri (4.8%).
  • A previously detected novel Rickettsia sp. was identified in 10 of 11 A. tuberculatum larval pools and was reported by Zemtsova et al. (6). An additional pool of A. tuberculatum nymphs was tested in this study and also was positive for the novel Rickettsia sp.
  • E. chaffeensis was detected in 1 A. maculatum adult (prevalence 1.2%), and Panola mountain Ehrlichia sp. was detected in 2 A. maculatum adults (prevalence 2.4%) and 1 D. variabilis adult (prevalence 10%).
  • No ticks were positive for Borrelia spp., E. ewingii, or Anaplasma phagocytophilum.

Thus, forestry workers were found to encounter ticks on a regular basis, and peak encounter rates reflected previously reported tick seasonality in this region (4). Only 3 (0.8%) of the ticks submitted were engorged, indicating prompt removal of most ticks and thus low risk for pathogen transmission. A. maculatum, a fairly uncommon tick in the southeastern United States, was the most commonly submitted tick. However, A. maculatum ticks dominate in regularly burned pine ecosystems (4), which is where most of these workers spent their time.

We observed several unique findings related to pathogens during this study. Larvae and nymphs of A. tuberculatum ticks were submitted on multiple occasions, a tick rarely reported on humans (7). These findings in conjunction with the identification of a novel Rickettsia sp. (6), suggest that additional research is warranted. This study also identified E. chaffeensis and Panola Mountain Ehrlichia in A. maculatum ticks. Although A. americanum ticks are considered the primary vector of Ehrlichia spp., these pathogens have been occasionally reported in questing A. maculatum ticks, suggesting that this tick might be involved in their transmission cycles (5,8). We also detected Panola Mountain Ehrlichia in 1 D. variabilis tick. Thus, further research regarding these alternative tick species as potential vectors of these pathogens is warranted, particularly in the case of A. maculatum ticks, which were a common species on forestry workers and are widespread in this region (4).

At the time of this study, Dr. Gleim was a research scientist at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. She is currently a disease ecologist at Hollins University, Roanoke, VA. Her research interests include wildlife and zoonotic diseases with a particular emphasis on tickborne diseases.

Acknowledgments

We thank the persons whom submitted ticks for this study and members of the Yabsley and Levin laboratories for providing laboratory assistance.

This study was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/University of Georgia (UGA) collaborative grant (#8212, Ecosystem Health and Human Health: Understanding the Ecological Effects of Prescribed Fire Regimes on the Distribution and Population Dynamics of Tick-Borne Zoonoses); the Oxford Research Scholars Program at Oxford College of Emory University; the Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center, the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources (UGA); the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study (UGA) through the Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration Act (50 Statute 917); and Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study sponsorship from fish and wildlife agencies of member states.

References

  1. Stromdahl  EY, Hickling  GJ. Beyond Lyme: aetiology of tick-borne human diseases with emphasis on the south-eastern United States. Zoonoses Public Health. 2012;59(Suppl 2):48–64. DOIPubMed
  2. Covert  DJ, Langley  RL. Infectious disease occurrence in forestry workers: a systematic review. J Agromed. 2002;8:95–111. DOIPubMed
  3. Lee  S, Kakumanu  ML, Ponnusamy  L, Vaughn  M, Funkhouser  S, Thornton  H, et al. Prevalence of Rickettsiales in ticks removed from the skin of outdoor workers in North Carolina. Parasit Vectors. 2014;7:607. DOIPubMed
  4. Gleim  ER, Conner  LM, Berghaus  RD, Levin  ML, Zemtsova  GE, Yabsley  MJ. The phenology of ticks and the effects of long-term prescribed burning on tick population dynamics in southwestern Georgia and northwestern Florida. PLoS One. 2014;9:e112174. DOIPubMed
  5. Loftis  AD, Kelly  PJ, Paddock  CD, Blount  K, Johnson  JW, Gleim  ER, et al. Panola Mountain Ehrlichia in Amblyomma maculatum From the United States and Amblyomma variegatum (Acari: Ixodidae) From the Caribbean and Africa. J Med Entomol. 2016;53:696–8. DOIPubMed
  6. Zemtsova  GE, Gleim  E, Yabsley  MJ, Conner  LM, Mann  T, Brown  MD, et al. Detection of a novel spotted fever group Rickettsia in the gophertortoise tick. J Med Entomol. 2012;49:783–6. DOIPubMed
  7. Goddard  J. A ten-year study of tick biting in Mississippi: implications for human disease transmission. J Agromed. 2002;8:25–32. DOIPubMed
  8. Allerdice  ME, Hecht  JA, Karpathy  SE, Paddock  CD. Evaluation of Gulf Coast ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) for Ehrlichia and Anaplasma species. J Med Entomol. 2017;54:481–4.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=28031351&dopt=Abstract

Table

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**Comment**

Again, folks down South should be taken seriously when they present with symptoms.  BTW: Southern advocates tell me that STARI looks, smells, and feels just like Lyme disease.  

Lyme IS in the South:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/10/25/hope-for-southerners/

The take home: Clark is finding borrelia (Lyme) strains in the South that the current CDC two-tier testing will never pick up in a thousand years.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285584725_Isolation_of_live_Borrelia_burgdorferi_sensu_lato_spirochetes_from_patients_with_undefined_disorders_and_symptoms_not_typical_for_Lyme_diseases

The take home: Clark found live Bbsl (bissettii-like strain) in people from the Southeast who had undefined disorders not typical of LD, and were treated for LD even though they were seronegative, proving that B. bissetti is responsible for worldwide human infection.

He also showed DNA of Bbsl in Lone Star ticks which might be a bridge vector of transmission to humans.

Dr. Clark was the first to report finding LD spirochetes in animals and ticks in South Carolina, as well as in wild lizards in South Carolina and Florida. He has documented the presence of LD Borrelia species, Babesia microti, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia species, and other tick-borne pathogens in wild animals, ticks, dogs, and humans in Florida and other southern states.

Clark is infected.  Surprised?  This is why he’s finding answers – it’s much more than a job to him.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/05/31/no-lyme-in-the-south-guess-again/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/03/19/jacksonville-family-shares-daughters-9-month-diagnosis-of-rare-disease-which-isnt-rare-lyme/

Time to start believing people!

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, research, Rickettsia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ticks, Uncategorized

Protect Yourself. Check Yourself For Ticks

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More on prevention:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/12/tick-prevention-2019/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks, Uncategorized

Tick-borne Powassan Virus Confirmed in 6 Minnesota Counties

http://www.fox9.com/news/powassan-virus  Go here for 2 Min News Video

Tick-borne Powassan virus confirmed in 6 Minnesota counties

By Jack Highberger

Posted May 02 2017 10:09PM CDT

(KMSP) – A tick-borne disease that is more serious than Lyme disease is on the rise. It’s called the Powassan virus, and there are already 20 confirmed cases in Minnesota. Ticks in 6 counties have tested positive, some of them very close to the Twin Cities metro.

The virus was confirmed in Anoka, Cass, Clearwater, Houston, Morrison and Pine counties.

First documented in 1958, the virus is named after the Canadian town where it first appeared. Symptoms include headache, vomiting, weakness, and in many cases, swelling of the brain.

Government statistics show that half of those infected will suffer permanent neurological damage.
Unlike Lyme disease, which is treatable and preventable, if an affected tick is quickly removed, the Powassan virus has no known treatment and can be transmitted from a tick to human in only minutes.
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**Comment**
I’ve looked everywhere but can not find why they think that deer ticks transmitting Powassan is a NEW thing.  It’s always been able to transmit it & is even called “Deer Tick Virus.” Even the CDC website states it and they’re usually the last to know about anything.
We’ve also known it takes mere minutes to transmit and being a virus it’s unique in that antibiotics won’t work – but there are many things you can do for viruses:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/03/28/combating-viruses/
The frightening aspect of Powassan of course is that the symptoms can be severe and transmission happens quickly.  I do know many patients who improved on anti-virals.  Typically this is discovered through trial and error on their part. I am not aware if anti-virals would work on Powassan, but this recent study suggests certain ones may:  https://www.contagionlive.com/news/investigators-discover-how-ticks-reproduce-powassan-virus-in-salivary-glands  Excerpt:
…the utilization of the organ cultures is likely a bona fide way to rapidly assess the efficacy of gene inactivation methods as well as drugs and small molecule inhibitors as antivirals.”

 

Coppe Lab, a CLIA certified lab, right here Waukesha has been studying Powassan for quite some time. Their pdf below states that numbers look low because only severe cases are reported. Despite this, there’s been a 375% increase in the last 5 years. 

They state the clinical picture of Powassan looks like many other tick-borne illnesses and is…

probably overlooked yet directly contributes to disease long term.

About two-thirds are subclinical but round 30% of symptomatic adults contract a severe form called meningoencephalitis. One-third of those have incomplete recovery with neuropsychiatric symptoms that become chronic. The overall fatality rate is about 1% and severity of illness increases with the age of the patient.  

In 2016, Coppe Laboratories’ Study 1 evaluated 106 patientswith suspected acute tick-borne disease and 10.4% tested positive for POWV by immunofluorescence assay. Nearly 17% of the patients with positive Lyme results also tested positive for POWV exposure. The authors concluded,

“Infection with POWV may be underdiagnosed and may contribute to the persistent symptoms often associated with Lyme disease diagnosis.”16

Coppe states the following patients should be tested for POWV:
  • Patients with a recent tick bite. Studies have shown 2–9% of ticks to be infected with POWV in Lyme endemic areas.17
  • PatientswithLymeoranothertick-borneillness who have been treated with antibiotics and have persistent symptoms consistent with post-treatment Lyme disease.
  • Patients with tick exposure who have tested negative for Lyme disease or other tick-borne illnesses who continue to have symptoms.
  • Patients with tick exposure and unexplained neurologic symptoms.
  • ChronicFatigueSyndrome(CFS)orPost-Infectious Fatigue (PIF) patients with tick exposure.

Coppe has developed both direct and indirect tests for Powassan virus and is the only commercial laboratory to offer this type of testing.  See their pdf for case studies:  http://www.coppelabs.com/wp-content/uploads/coppe-powassan_16pg_030818_lores_indiv.pdf

More on Powassan:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/13/half-of-powassan-cases-from-wisconsin-and-minnesota/

 

Category:

Ticks, Transmission, Viruses

Only 45 Days to Raise Money for Tick Project

How about getting inspired and excited to join an EXPERIMENT! Here’s the deal. The crowdfunding platform EXPERIMENT.com is being used to raise a modest sum ($8,000) that will help pay the costs to answer this important prevention question:

Do people who connect with a tick expert and learn more specifics about the tick that bit them or a family member, then more readily adopt what we call TickSmart actions and behaviors to protect themselves in the future?

More concisely — Does personalized prevention education work?

The Tick Encounter group plans to harness the “power of the crowd” to identify tick bite victim test subjects. To this end, TickSpotters, America’s Crowdsourced Tick Survey, is about to receive a face-lift including partnering with Neuraflash and Salesforce to upgrade the technology, meaning that we can now respond faster to a larger volume of tick submissions, track data in real-time, and make the TickSpotters platform scalable so that it can even be used by collaborating TickExperts to assimilate even more data. It sounds ambitious for such a small sum, but read on…

Even with a gift from a generous donor to start our technology upgrade, $8,000 is still needed for the new system. These funds are being sought through Experiment.com, a scientific crowdfunding site similar to GoFundMe or KickStarter. This is a high-stakes, all-or-nothing campaign, meaning there are just 45 days to hit the goal, or the money pledged gets returned, and the project gets nothing.

Unlike Kickstarter or GoFundMe where donors usually get a copy of what’s being produced, with Experiment your “benefit” is in the science discovery you help imagine and inspire with your gift. Of course, after clicking the link and reading more about our TickSpotters project on the Experiment website (link below), you’ll also know with confidence that if you ever need it, you’ll have quick access to a TickExpert whenever and wherever you might need one. In our “ticks in more places” world, consider a donation to this Experiment, and show that peace of mind has real value to you.

Crowdfunding, just like crowdsourced science, is all about a lot of people each giving a little to make a big impact. Even if you are unable to financially contribute, please share this link within your networks and with your endorsement (that means a lot). Attached is a campaign letter for you to edit and send out. Check out our Experiment page at the link below.

Project link –>  https://experiment.com/tickspotters (This link has a short video)

Please join the TickEncounter team of Dr. Tom Mather, Steve Engborg, Roland Duhaime, Heather Kopsco in changing the face of tick surveillance and tick bite prevention!

Thanks in advance for your consideration and circulation of this important opportunity!

Category:

Activism, Prevention, Ticks