Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6360175/

Published online 2019 Jan 28. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00003
PMCID: PMC6360175
PMID: 30746341

Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia

Mona Dehhaghi,1,2,† Hamed Kazemi Shariat Panahi,1,2,† Edward C. Holmes,3 Bernard J. Hudson,4Richard Schloeffel,5 and Gilles J. Guillemin1,*

Abstract

There are 17 human-biting ticks known in Australia. The bites of Ixodes holocyclus, Ornithodoros capensis, and Ornithodoros gurneyi can cause paralysis, inflammation, and severe local and systemic reactions in humans, respectively. Six ticks, including Amblyomma triguttatum, Bothriocroton hydrosauri, Haemaphysalis novaeguineae, Ixodes cornuatus, Ixodes holocyclus, and Ixodes tasmani may transmit Coxiella burnetii, Rickettsia australis, Rickettsia honei, or Rickettsia honei subsp. marmionii. These bacterial pathogens cause Q fever, Queensland tick typhus (QTT), Flinders Island spotted fever (FISF), and Australian spotted fever (ASF). It is also believed that babesiosis can be transmitted by ticks to humans in Australia.

In addition, Argas robertsi, Haemaphysalis bancrofti, Haemaphysalis longicornis, Ixodes hirsti, Rhipicephalus australis, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks may play active roles in transmission of other pathogens that already exist or could potentially be introduced into Australia. These pathogens include Anaplasma spp., Bartonella spp., Burkholderia spp., Francisella spp., Dera Ghazi Khan virus (DGKV), tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Lake Clarendon virus (LCV), Saumarez Reef virus (SREV), Upolu virus (UPOV), or Vinegar Hill virus (VINHV).

It is important to regularly update clinicians’ knowledge about tick-borne infections because these bacteria and arboviruses are pathogens of humans that may cause fatal illness. An increase in the incidence of tick-borne infections of human may be observed in the future due to changes in demography, climate change, and increase in travel and shipments and even migratory patterns of birds or other animals. Moreover, the geographical conditions of Australia are favorable for many exotic ticks, which may become endemic to Australia given an opportunity. There are some human pathogens, such as Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia rickettsii that are not currently present in Australia, but can be transmitted by some human-biting ticks found in Australia, such as Rhipicephalus sanguineus, if they enter and establish in this country.

Despite these threats, our knowledge of Australian ticks and tick-borne diseases is in its infancy.

**Comment**

I appreciate the way the researchers wrote about the possibility of infection even though there are not recorded cases yet.  This open-mindedness is imperative if we are to move forward. Gone are the days where tick-borne illness is presented as if the information were akin to the 10 commandments.

Tick-borne illness has become a true pandemic and is found virtually everywhere.

While Lyme is not mentioned (please note further down that autopsy results showed Lyme all over a man from Sydney) the following infections are on record:

  • Q fever
  • Queensland tick typhus (QTT)
  • Flinders Island spotted fever (FISF)
  • Australian spotted fever (ASF)
  • Babesiosis
  • Anaplasma spp.
  • Bartonella spp.
  • Burkholderia spp.
  • Francisella spp. (Tularemia)
  • Dera Ghazi Khan virus (DGKV)
  • tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV)
  • Lake Clarendon virus (LCV)
  • Saumarez Reef virus (SREV)
  • Upolu virus (UPOV)
  • Vinegar Hill virus (VINHV)

I would say that is quite enough to make our Aussie friends quite sick.

For more on TBI’s in Australia:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/21/our-battle-ongoing-lyme-disease-in-australia/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/11/03/ld-not-in-australia-here-we-go-again/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/03/aussie-widow-of-lyme-disease-victim-to-sue-nsw-health/  A SYDNEY woman launches a class action against NSW Health after autopsy results showed her husband was riddled with Lyme in his liver, heart, kidney, and lungs. He was only 44 years old and was bitten by a tick while filming a TV show in Sydney.

 https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/18/study-finds-q-fever-rickettsia-typhus-in-australian-ticks-and-people/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/01/14/python-covered-with-more-than-500-ticks-rescued-in-australia/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/03/23/australian-lyme-disease-research-pilot-funded/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/19/tbis-in-australia/

 

 

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Bartonella, research, Rickettsia, Ticks, Transmission, Tularemia, Viruses

Study Says Only About 18% of Children With Lyme Recall Tick Bite

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877959X18304965

A minority of children diagnosed with Lyme disease recall a preceding tick bite

online 26 February 2019

Abstract

Of 1770 children undergoing emergency department evaluation for Lyme disease, 362 (20.5%) children had Lyme disease. Of those with an available tick bite history, only a minority of those with Lyme disease had a recognized tick bite (60/325; 18.5%, 95% confidence interval 14.6–23.0%). Lack of a tick bite history does not reliably exclude Lyme disease.

_______________

**Comment**

While this information isn’t shocking to me in the least, what does concern me is that only about 20% were found to have Lyme.  The abstract does not give the diagnostic criteria; however, it is typically the 2-tiered CDC serological (blood) testing which misses over half of all cases.  

So many of these children have Lyme and are now undiagnosed and will go on to develop chronic/persistent symptoms.

While I’m thankful the authors conclude that lack of recollection of a tick bite does not exclude infection, I’m highly concerned for those that perhaps are infected but couldn’t mount an appropriate immune response to show antibodies.

 

 

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks

1st Report of Anaplasma Found in Thai. Bartonella, Rickettsia, Leptospira, & Scrub Typhus in Humans as Well. Even More Found in Ticks

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30863381

Metagenomic Approach to Characterizing Disease Epidemiology in a Disease-Endemic Environment in Northern Thailand.

Takhampunya R1, Korkusol A1, Pongpichit C2, Yodin K2, Rungrojn A1, Chanarat N1, Promsathaporn S1, Monkanna T1, Thaloengsok S1, Tippayachai B1, Kumfao N2, Richards AL3, Davidson SA1.

Abstract

In this study, we used a metagenomic approach to analyze bacterial communities from diverse populations (humans, animals, and vectors) to investigate the role of these microorganisms as causative agents of disease in human and animal populations. Wild rodents and ectoparasites were collected from 2014 to 2018 in Nan province, Thailand where scrub typhus is highly endemic. Samples from undifferentiated febrile illness (UFI) patients were obtained from a local hospital. A total of 200 UFI patient samples were obtained and 309 rodents and 420 pools of ectoparasites were collected from rodents (n = 285) and domestic animals (n = 135). The bacterial 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced with the Illumina. Real-time PCR and Sanger sequencing were used to confirm the next-generation sequencing (NGS) results and to characterize pathogen species.

Several pathogens were detected by NGS in all populations studied and the most common pathogens identified included Bartonella spp., spp., Leptospira spp., and Orientia tsutsugamushi. Interestingly, Anaplasma spp. was detected in patient, rodent and tick populations, although they were not previously known to cause human disease from this region. Candidatus Neoehrlichia, Neorickettsia spp., Borrelia spp., and Ehrlichia spp. were detected in rodents and their associated ectoparasites. The same O. tsutsugamushi genotypes were shared among UFI patients, rodents, and chiggers in a single district indicating that the chiggers found on rodents were also likely responsible for transmitting to people.

Serological testing using immunofluorescence assays in UFI samples showed high prevalence (IgM/IgG) of Rickettsia and Orientia pathogens, most notably among samples collected during September-November. Additionally, a higher number of seropositive samples belonged to patients in the working age population (20-60 years old). The results presented in this study demonstrate that the increased risk of human infection or exposure to chiggers and their associated pathogen (O. tsutsugamushi) resulted in part from two important factors; working age group and seasons for rice cultivation and harvesting. Evidence of pathogen exposure was shown to occur as there was seropositivity (IgG) in UFI patients for bartonellosis as well as for anaplasmosis.

Using a metagenomic approach, this study demonstrated the circulation and transmission of several pathogens in the environment, some of which are known causative agents of illness in human populations.

 

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Bartonella, research, Rickettsia, Testing, Ticks

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is Not the Only Rickettsiosis

https://www.galaxydx.com/rickettsiosis_rocky_mountain_spotted_fever/

written on

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is not the only Rickettsiosis

Rickettsia species cause moderate to severe symptoms ranging from fever to internal hemorrhaging.

The symptoms and their severity depend on which species is present and how long the patient has been infected. Like Bartonella and Ehrlichia, Rickettsia species are intracellular bacteria, which means that they can live inside cells in the host.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is perhaps the most notorious of the rickettsioses (Rickettsia-related illnesses) reported in the United States. The CDC started tracking cases back in the early 20th century because of patients’ high fatality rate. Researchers soon found that the causative agent was R. rickettsii, which was transmitted primarily by Dermacentor ticks like the American dog tick.

The fatality rate for RMSF has decreased tremendously since the invention of doxycycline in the 1940s. However, reported cases have risen since CDC criteria for reporting expanded in 2010 to include Rickettsia species that cause similar yet milder symptoms. Our new Rickettsia species webpage is designed to give you an overview of rickettsioses found around the world and how Galaxy Diagnostics tests can detect the spectrum of species that cause them.

Figure 1: Reported cases and case fatality rates of spotted fever rickettsioses

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever became a nationally notifiable disease in the United States in the 1920s. In 2010, the criteria expanded to include additional Rickettsia species that cause spotted fevers (CDC).

The rise in reported cases of rickettsiosis and newly discovered species has created a need for diagnostics with increased specificity. R. parkeri, R. philipii, and R. akari cause similar symptoms, but conventional tests that are available often cannot discern which species is present.

Serology is the most common method used for laboratory evidence of a Rickettsia species infection. Labs will use antigens from a certain species to test for an immune response in a blood sample, but the chances of cross-reactivity are high because the bacteria are closely related. This means that the test for a certain species could be positive, but it actually may be a different species that is present. Furthermore, serology results can be hard to interpret because antibodies could indicate current or past infection.

Galaxy Diagnostics offers highly sensitive and specific PCR testing for pathogenic Rickettsiaspecies. If DNA from Rickettsia is detected, the sample is DNA sequenced and the exact species is determined.

References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/index.html

___________________

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/14/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-rmsf/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/16/new-tick-causes-epidemic-of-rmsf/  It’s usually spread by the American dog tick and the closely related Rocky Mountain wood tick. But in recent years the bacterial infection has also been spread by the brown dog tick — a completely different species.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/12/georgia-mom-warns-others-after-son-contracts-rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-after-tick-bite/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/10/first-rmsf-death-in-wisconsin/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/?s=rickettsia

  • 1st detection of Rickettsia Africae & Tropical Bona Tick Found in France
  • Rickettsia found in ticks on Brazilian snakes
  • Tick bite in ear gave UK teacher Rickettsia Typhus infection
  • 30% Finnish ticks carry at least 1 pathogen & Candidas Rickettsia Tarasevichiae found for the 1st time
  • Study finds Q Fever & Rickettsia (Typhus) in Australian Ticks & people

 

 

Category:

Rickettsia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Testing, Ticks, Uncategorized

Raising Red Flag Over Lyme

https://www.suncommunitynews.com/articles/the-sun/raising-red-flag-over-lyme/

Raising red flag over Lyme

Eagle Lake resident warns public to take disease seriously

BY MARCH 1, 2019

TICONDEROGA | Todd Condon creates art on his iPad, not necessarily because he prefers to, but because the joints in his fingers have seized up to the point that he cannot grip brushes and pens. He still has good days, which to him means getting to the grocery store and back without incident, or being relatively free of painful flare-ups that leave him virtually immobile.

All because of a tick no bigger than a celery seed.

Condon contracted Lyme disease three years ago, and the illness has become chronic largely, he says, because of a lengthy delay in its diagnosis. Doctors wrote off his condition to joint maladies or fibromyalgia and balked at his repeated requests for advanced blood work.

His joints and head throbbed, he was tired all the time, and he lost coordination and was easily confused.

“Everybody who knew me said, ‘What’s wrong with this guy?’” Condon said. “The scary thing was, I didn’t know myself.”

‘WHAT DO YOU DO NOW?’

For 25 years, Condon, of Eagle Lake, had worked for International Paper in Ticonderoga, but the disease eventually overcame his ability to do the job he loved. By this time he knew what was dogging him, having finally been availed of a specialist who performed the blood work Condon had wanted two years before.

The results were sobering. Not only did he have Lyme, he tested positive as well for West Nile disease and Bartonella, co-infections likely spread by the same tick.

Had Condon gotten the blood tests when he wanted, things might have been different. But now the condition had worked its way into his nervous system and advanced to the point that treatment was far less effective.

Physicians poured on the antibiotics, six months’ worth of pills taken twice daily and, when that didn’t work, prescribed a half-hour a day’s worth of intravenous drugs for a month. That didn’t work either.

“If the antibiotic isn’t doing anything, what do you do now?” he said.

RAISING AWARENESS

Condon says he still has hope, if not relief. His other goal is to raise awareness of Lyme and help people who are in chronic pain, no matter what the cause. To that end he has started a Chronic Pain and Illness Support Group that meets at the Ticonderoga Hospital on the second Sunday of every month at 7 p.m.

“All are welcome to attend,” he said. “It’s a place where people can share their stories and feel they have a caring and supportive environment.”

Meanwhile, he sifts through medical and social-media sites hoping to find evidence of a cure.

SEVERE SPIKE

Lyme was relatively unknown in the Adirondacks, until climate change expanded the range of the deer tick that carries it. According to research by Lee Ann Sporn, a professor at Paul Smith’s College, Essex County saw a severe spike in Lyme disease beginning in 2012.

But scientists and physicians have been dismayed this year that the New York Senate has to date failed to provide for a continuance of the funding that has paid for baseline research — an indication that Lyme is still not garnering the attention it should.

In a statement sent to the Senate in support of funding, Dr. Russ Hartung, emergency physician at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, said research into tick populations and infection rates provide critical guidance to the medical community.

He also said the seriousness of the illness is still understated.

“The general public may not realize that Lyme causes more than just achy joints and a rash,” he wrote. “It can cause critical illness like cardiac disease and meningitis, and the other tick-borne pathogens can be even worse.”

According to Spron’s research, “it’s a coin flip” as to whether a tick is a carrier or not, so it’s best to assume that any tick bite is cause for concern. Checking for ticks after being out in the bush is critical, since if the tick is pulled off within 24 hours, the disease, studies indicate, probably has not had time to be transmitted. Tick bites are also more dangerous in July and August than in the spring and fall.

WALKING EXHIBIT

Condon believes Lyme is still going undiagnosed and that too many in the medical and insurance industries still treat it as a phantom disease. It can be hard to find doctors that have a good, up-to-date understanding of Lyme, he said.

“I don’t think it’s gotten the proper attention,” he said. “If you don’t catch it quickly, you can get in trouble.”

Lyme is also insidious because it can come with co-infections and can show up differently in different people. Someone might be infected, but show no symptoms. And when they do show, those symptoms can vary radically, making diagnosis more difficult.

“You have to be your own advocate,” Condon said. “Find a doctor who is Lyme literate.”

Patients need to be careful too that the physician’s care will be covered by insurance, since companies sometimes balk at paying for Lyme treatments.

Condon said he’s a walking exhibit of the need for early treatment.

“It’s been three years of hell,” he said. “It feels like my joints are being torn apart on the inside. Things that people take for granted become a struggle. I just hope the word spreads far enough that people know what to do, and that no one else gets to this point.”

________________

**Comment**

  1. We still don’t know everything about why some become chronically ill, and while delays in diagnosis are a factor, treatment failures have been documented since the beginning:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/22/why-mainstream-lyme-msids-research-remains-in-the-dark-ages/
  2. There is also the issue of there being more subsets of patients besides “acute” and PTLDS:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/25/medical-stalemate-what-causes-continuing-symptoms-after-lyme-treatment/
  3. Until the pleomorphic and polymicrobial nature of Lyme/MSIDS is recognized, patients are doomed:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/30/study-shows-lyme-msids-patients-infected-with-many-pathogens-and-explains-why-we-are-so-sick/
  4. Blood tests for Lyme/MSIDS is abysmal, missing over half of all cases.  There has been a concerted suppression of microscopy and other forms of testing:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/12/direct-diagnostic-tests-for-lyme-the-closest-thing-to-an-apology-you-are-ever-going-to-get/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/27/should-lyme-patients-rico-lawsuit-include-yale/
  5. Climate change has NOTHING to do with this:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/13/study-shows-lyme-not-propelled-by-climate-change/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/

“The authorities have been using tick expansion and climate change to get research dollars. Climate change is a popular topic right now, and that is a great source of funding for related research. However, any research on ticks and climate change is inconclusive––in essence, there is no validity. The long-range, futuristic projections and statistical models are bogus science because blacklegged ticks have already been found in northern Canada. In fact, we documented blacklegged ticks on migratory songbirds in northern Alberta dating back to 1998. Any allocation of government funding for ticks and climate change research is a complete waste of taxpayers’ money. It will not help Lyme disease patients one iota.”  Independent Canadian tick researcher, John Scott

Few LLMD’s take insurance forcing patients to pay expensive long-term bills out of pocket. Insurance companies are the ones coming after doctors who dare to treat in a way that is outside the CDC guidelines of essentially 21 days of doxycycline:  https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2012/01/29/1059800/-Wisconsin-Lyme-doctor-gets-reprieve?  Once they flag a doctor they nit-pick until they find any little thing:  https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/chronic-lyme-vip-daniel-cameron-disciplined-by-new-york-medical-authorities/

The Lyme Wars are far from over.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/24/lyme-wars-part-1-julias-story/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/25/lyme-wars-part-2-kyra-overcomes-chronic-lyme-diagnosis/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/26/lyme-wars-part-3/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/27/lyme-wars-part-4/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/28/lyme-wars-part-5-coinfections/

 

Category:

Activism, Bartonella, Lyme, Testing, Ticks, Treatment