Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

Novel Borrelia Found in Canadian Rabbit

Detection of Borrelia Genomospecies 2 in Ixodes spinipalpis Ticks Collected from a Rabbit in Canada

John D. Scott, Kerry L. Clark, Janet E. Foley, John F. Anderson, Lance A. Durden, Jodi M. Manord, and Morgan L. Smith

Journal of Parasitology, 103(1):38-46. 2017

http://doi.org/10.1645/16-127

Abstract

Lyme disease is a serious health problem, with many patients requiring in-depth clinical assessment and extended treatment. In the present study, we provide the first records of the western blacklegged tick, Ixodes pacificus, and Ixodes spinipalpis parasitizing eastern cottontails, Sylvilagus floridanus. We also documented a triple co-infestation of 3 tick species (Ixodes angustus, I. pacificus, I. spinipalpis) feeding on an eastern cottontail. Notably, we discovered a unique member of the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in Canada.

Ixodes spinipalpis ticks, which were collected from an eastern cottontail on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (BC), were positive for B. burgdorferi s.l.  With the use of polymerase chain reaction amplification on the tick extracts and DNA sequencing on the borrelial amplicons, we detected Borrelia genomospecies 2, a novel subgroup of the B. burgdorferi s.l. complex. Based on 416 nucleotides of the flagellin B (flaB) gene, our amplicons are identical to the Borrelia genomospecies 2 type strain CA28. Borrelia genomospecies 2 is closely related genetically to other B. burgdorferi s.l. genospecies, namely Borrelia americana, Borrelia andersonii, and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) that cause Lyme disease.

Like some other borrelial strains, Borrelia genomospecies 2 can be missed by current Lyme disease serology. Health-care providers must be aware that Borrelia genomospecies 2 is present in I. pacificus and I. spinipalpis ticks in far-western North America, and patients with clinical symptoms of Lyme disease need to be assessed for potential infection with this pathogen.

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks

Ticks Found on Rocks

https://www.lymedisease.org/touched-lyme-hikers-think-twice-sitting-rocks/

Be careful of sitting on rocks when you are out hiking!  

Read the article in full in the link above – but in short, the California Department of Public Health found that out of leaf litter, downed wood, tree bole (lower 5 ft of tree trunks), and rocks, the most nymphal ticks were found on rocks.

According to Dorothy Kupcha Leland, California nymphal ticks have a much higher Lyme infection rate than adult ticks, but due to the bigger size, most studies have been of adults.  (Please see link above for informative graphics)

https://www.lymedisease.org/tildenticks-2/  Also, according to this 2011 article, California researchers have also found nymphs in unexpected places, including on and underneath wooden picnic tables and benches.

Leland states:

My personal advice is to wear permethrin-treated clothing when spending time in such a place. (At the very least, on the bottom half of your body: shoes, socks, and pants. But what the heck, how about a treated shirt and hat, too?) And wear repellent on exposed skin. And check yourself often for ticks, promptly removing any you find. https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-basics/ticks/personal-protection/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/10/national-pest-alert/  I posted this recently, but here it is again.  This is the National Pest Alert.

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Ticks

National Pest Alert

TickPestAlert Mar 8 2017 FINAL-1  Developed by the USDA with input from the Regional Integrated Pest Management Public Workgroup (IPM) as an educational tool. Please forward to doctors, patients, family & friends, legislators & constituents.

A few words:

*While the pamphlet above is informative & a great place to start, much is truly unknown about Tick Borne Illnesses (TBI’s), and much of TBI’s do not fit into a box, unless it’s Pandora’s.

  1. Transmission Times have never been determined on humans: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/07/igenex-presentation/ As seen in this link, there has only been ONE study done on mice showing transmission to occur in under 16 hours and frequently in under 24. Other pathogens such as Powassan can be spread in under 15 minutes. Please watch the brief video by microbiologist Holly Ahern in link above. Also, Bob Giguere of IGeneX tells the story of a little girl who got a tick bite mid-morning and by 2 had facial palsy and by 4 p.m. couldn’t walk or talk.
  2. According to Master Herbalist Stephen Buhner in his book, Healing Lyme (2015) p. 120-121, there are always some borrelial organisms in the tick’s salivary glands and it’s common for ticks to unlatch before they feed to completion and that these half-filled ticks can transmit to their next host in as little as 10 minutes.
    Buhner also states there is an increase in transovarial transmission among all types of Borrelia since 2005 with most ticks infected with multiple borrelial species with some larvae being infective as soon as they emerge from the egg (p. 119).
  3. Ticks are a year-long threat: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/11/06/unlike-mosquitoes-ticks-year-long-threat/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/20/polar-vorticks/
  4. There are numerous other symptoms besides the 7 listed. Sometimes a person’s only symptom is psychiatric in nature: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/10/18/psychiatric-lymemsids/ For a more complete list please look at these checklists developed by experienced Lyme literate doctors: SymptomList Created by Dr. Horowitz, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2011/12/13/general-symptom-check-list-by-joseph-burrascano-md/ Created by Dr. Burrascano
  5. The maps shown should be used as general guides. Too many patients have been denied treatment due to doctors looking at maps and deciding a certain tick or a certain disease isn’t in their geographic location. Ticks are migrating everywhere and taking the pathogens inside them along for the ride. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/09/24/arkansas-kids-denied-lyme-treatment/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/02/hold-the-press-arkansas-has-lyme/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/11/03/ld-not-in-australia-here-we-go-again/, https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/10/25/hope-for-southerners/

Category:

Activism, Ticks

Systematic Review: Human Diseases From Deer Ticks

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4857413/#!po=47.6331

Mark P. Nelder,corresponding author Curtis B. Russell, Nina Jain Sheehan, Beate Sander, Stephen Moore, Ye Li, Steven Johnson, Samir N. Patel, and Doug Sider

I condensed information from the above link.

Abstract

Background

The blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis transmits Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu stricto) in eastern North America; however, the agent of Lyme disease is not the sole pathogen harbored by the blacklegged tick. The blacklegged tick is expanding its range into areas of southern Canada such as Ontario, an area where exposure to blacklegged tick bites and tick-borne pathogens is increasing. We performed a systematic review to evaluate the public health risks posed by expanding blacklegged tick populations and their associated pathogens.

Methods

Researchers searched Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, BIOSIS, Scopus and Environment Complete databases for the years 2000 through 2015 using specific eligibility criteria such as field-collected backlegged ticks and studies that did NOT focus solely on B. burgdorferi (Bb) and performed quality assessments on eligible studies.  

Results

Seventy-eight studies were chosen.  The ticks in the studies harbored 91 distinct taxa, 16 of which are tick-transmitted human pathogens including Anaplasma, Babesia, Bartonella, Borrelia, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, Theileria and Flavivirus.

Conclusions

Our review is the first systematic assessment of the literature on the human pathogens associated with the blacklegged tick. As Lyme disease awareness continues to increase, it is an opportune time to document the full spectrum of human pathogens transmittable by blacklegged ticks.

If you go to the link at the top of page, Table One in the study has an informative table that shows the various states the studies were derived from as well as the human infections they found.  For Wisconsin the following were found:

*Arboviral infection (encephalitis, meningitis)

*Anaplasmosis

*Babesiosis

*Lyme Disease

*Ehrlichiosis

*Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

**Bartonella is NOT reportable, which we need to do something about.  Frankly, it is as nasty if not nastier than borrelia, and just as hard to get rid of.  Also, other borrelia species are also NOT reportable.  

***Also, just because it wasn’t found in this systemic review doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.  

 

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Bartonella, Lyme, research, Ticks

Grant to Study How Bb Survives Hostile Environment

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-02/uota-upr020217.php

PUBLIC RELEASE: 2-FEB-2017
UTSA professor receives grant to study how Lyme disease survives in hosts

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO

Janakiram Seshu, associate professor of biology and associate dean of The Graduate School at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), has received a $404,250 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to support his research to better understand and prevent the spread of Lyme disease.

“Dr. Seshu’s top-tier efforts in infectious disease research are a source of immense pride for the UTSA College of Sciences,” said George Perry, Semmes Foundation Distinguished University Chair in Neurobiology and dean of the UTSA College of Sciences. “His work will undoubtedly have a great impact on our knowledge of Lyme disease, as well as our efforts to fight it.”

“As Lyme disease-carrying ticks increasingly spread to new areas of the country, we need to improve our understanding of the disease. Dr. Seshu’s bacteria research will help us limit Lyme disease’s spread and allow folks here in Texas and across the nation to live healthier lives,” said U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro. “Thanks to UTSA’s continued leadership, science thrives in San Antonio.”

Seshu, a member of the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, is best known by his peers for his inventive approach to stop the spread of Lyme disease. His work, described in a recent paper, leverages medication that is normally used to lower cholesterol.

“As a member of The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID), Dr. Seshu’s work is always interesting and innovative. With Lyme disease-carrying ticks now present in over half the country, his research and findings will provide new insights in the treatment against the particular bacterium,” said Bernard Arulanandam, UTSA interim vice president for research.

The big question at the heart of Seshu’s research is how the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, called Borrelia burgdorferi, is able to adapt to its immediate environment inside the tick vector or infected mammalian hosts. Mammalian bodies are very rich in nutrients and fatty acids, which make it very easy for the bacteria to thrive. The tick’s body is very different. It’s very poor in nutrients. Yet the bacterium adapts very quickly and allows the disease to spread.

To limit the transmission of the disease, Seshu’s entire laboratory is focused on understanding how the Lyme disease-carrying bacterium can reinvent itself to live for so long in such a disagreeable environment.

“This award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease is an exciting investment to tackle a major debilitating disease in the US,” Seshu said. “I’m looking forward to advancing our understanding of this disease, so we can start finding better solutions.”

 

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks, Uncategorized