Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

Deer Tick in Raptor’s Mouth

http://doi.org/10.11158/saa.22.2.5

Abstract

We document the first report of a blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, parasitizing an American Kestrel, Falco sparverius Linnaeus (Falconiformes: Falconidae), in Canada. A fully engorged I. scapularis nymph was collected from the base of the tongue of an American Kestrel nestling recovered at Mirabel, Québec. This nestling had recently fledged the nest, and was exposed to I. scapularis immatures that were host-seeking in the surrounding low-level vegetation.

DNA barcoding was used to confirm the identification of the tick. Primers of the flagellin (fla) gene were employed to determine whether the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, was present in the I. scapularis nymph; the tick was negative.

We provide the first report of I. scapularis parasitizing a raptor in Canada and, likewise, the first account of this tick species attached to the oral cavity of a bird. Moreover, this bird parasitism is the first documentation of a tick on a falconid bird in Canada.

Free, full text (pdf file, 502KB):
http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.11158/saa.22.2.5

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks

Promising Tick Research

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-01/yu-hw011317.php

PUBLIC RELEASE: 16-JAN-2017

How ‘stealth warrior’ bacteria turn a tick’s gut microbes against itself

YALE UNIVERSITY

New Haven, Conn.– Before infecting humans, tick-borne bacteria or viruses first have to get past a tick’s defenses to colonize it. How this occurs is not well understood. To investigate, Yale researchers studied a model of the second-most-common tick-borne infection in the United States, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, which can cause headaches, muscle pain, and even death.
The researchers found that in ticks, the bacterium that causes the infection, A. phagocytophilum, triggers the expression of a particular protein. This protein alters molecules in the tick’s gut, allowing the bacteria to enter and colonize the gut microbes.

“It’s like a stealth warrior that indirectly changes the tick by using the tick’s own defense system,” said Erol Fikrig, M.D., chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at Yale School of Medicine and senior author of the study.

The unexpected finding could help scientists develop strategies to block A. phagocytophilum and other tick-borne agents that cause disease, say the researchers. Fikrig’s team will explore the phenomenon in the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, and its work could have implications for other mosquito-borne infections, such as Zika and West Nile.

The study was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Other authors are Nabil M. Abraham, Lei Liu, Brandon L. Jutras, Akhilesh K. Yadav, Sukanya Narasimhan, Vissagan Gopalakrishnan, Juliana M. Ansari, Kimberly K. Jefferson, Felipe Cava, and Christine Jacobs-Wagner.
This work was supported in part by a gift from the John Monsky and Jennifer Weis Monsky Lyme Disease Research Fund, by a National Institutes of Health grant, and by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Lyme, Ticks, Uncategorized

Tick Related Red Meat Allergy Found in Minnesota & Wisconsin

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/01/12/tick-triggered-meat-allergy-northern-minnesota  (Click here to listen to the audio – approx. 3.5 min)

The Lone Star tick is supposed to stop dead in its tracks below the Iowa border but increasing numbers of people are being bitten by ticks and developing the red meat allergy (alpha-gal allergy) usually pinned on the Lone Star tick.

What gives?

According to Dr. Alaaddin Kandeel, an allergist at Essentia Health in Duluth, he’s diagnosed 18 patients with alpha-gal allergy – 10 from northeast Minnesota and 8 from northwest Wisconsin – hardly accepted Lone Star territory.  In the audio he states he diagnoses approximately 1 patient per month with Alpha-gal allergy and that the reactions can be severe, from passing out to life-threatening reactions.

And he’s not alone.  Dr. Chris Cleveland, also an allergist but in North Dakota, has also discovered alpha-gal allergy in his Minnesota patients.

Elizabeth Schiffman, epidemiologist at the Minnesota Department of Health says they get:

“sporadic reports of lone star ticks, but we don’t know of any established populations because when we’ve gone out and done our routine tick surveillance, what we really find are wood ticks….and then those black legged ticks, or the deer ticks.”

And while tick borne diseases are reportable by law in Minnesota, allergies like the alpha-gal allergy are not, so there really is no way to know how many are affected.

Is something other than the lone star tick causing the allergy?

Scott Commins, one of the researchers who first identified alpha-gal, states that researchers may be guilty of pigeonholing the allergy on the lone star tick due to the fact that there are now patients with alpha-gal allergy from all over the world where a variety of ticks are found.  His current work is trying to identify what is in the tick bite that is causing the allergy.

He does have a hypothesis.

He feels that perhaps when the tick bites an animal that already carries the alpha-gal carbohydrate, something in the tick’s saliva triggers an allergic reaction when it then bites a human.  He also feels genetic factors play a role.  He states,

“We know that in some patients the allergy fades over time. There are others where this appears to be long-lasting,” he added. “The issue is we don’t know what defines the groups or how to predict who will end up in each group at the outset. It may depend on further tick bites.”

Another challenge is that the reaction happens hours after eating so patients don’t make the connection, and according to Commins it causes painful stomach cramps but not the usual itching hives that allergies are known to cause.

However, Suzanne Keithley-Myers, the woman featured in the story had hives that made her want to “claw her flesh,” as well as stomach pain that made her fear for her life.

Alpha-gal allergy was discovered 7 years ago and now there are several thousand patients diagnosed with it.

Commins also states:

“I don’t want to alarm people, but I do feel that there probably is legitimate concern that this may be something that is the tip of the iceberg (in Minnesota) with the cases that you have at the moment.”

Category:

research, Ticks

Nootkatone

  (Approx 1.5 min)  Published on Aug 14, 2016
Explains potential for nootkatone to one day play a role in the fight against Lyme disease, as well as zika, chikungunya, dengue and West Nile viruses.

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/18/135468567/repelling-bugs-with-the-essence-of-grapefruit

The CDC is working on a natural insect repellent made from a chemical called nootkatone, which is found in Alaska yellow cedar trees and citrus fruit, and is nongreasy, dries quickly, and supposedly smells good.

It works against mosquitos, ticks, bed bugs, head lice and possibly other insects.

It is already an approved food additive and is classified as “Generally Considered Safe.”

It kills insects in 15 seconds by blocking receptors on insects’ nerve cells for a neurotransmitter called octopamine, which makes the insects hyperactive. Although humans don’t have octopamine receptors, scientists don’t yet know whether there’s any cross-reaction between nootkatone and adrenaline receptors.

Marc Dolan of the CDC’s vector-borne infectious diseases laboratory in Fort Collins, CO states:

“Tests so far indicate that nootkatone is highly effective as an environmental insecticide, and not just against mosquitoes. “A single application of a 2 percent solution of nootkatone will control ticks for up to 42 days at greater than 97 percent efficacy.” 

It breaks down quickly and doesn’t create a lot of soil or groundwater contamination or have a great impact on other insects such as butterflies and bees.

The CDC owns patents on nootkatone and has licensed them to two companies, one to develop a repellent, the other to work on insecticides, but it is expensive — $4,000 per kilogram for highly purified food-grade product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imG0kIX-eLc&feature=youtu.be  View video footage of an untreated finger exposed to ticks vs a finger treated with nootkatone, See more at: http://www.evolva.com/products/nootkatone/#sthash.EQwxPIx7.dpuf

Evolva received approval from the EPA for the classification of biochemical pesticide active ingredient (a subcategory of biopesticide) in early 2015.  This classification allows for a potentially expedited process for registration of nootkatone for use against pests. It will take an estimated 2-3 years of regulatory work to get nootkatone approved as an insect and tick repellent in the USA.

Category:

mosquitoes, Ticks

Antibiotic Gel Prevents LD?

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(16)30529-1/abstract

One thousand patients with tick bites were treated with a 10% Azithromycin antibiotic gel within 72 hours of attachment.  None developed Lyme borreliosis.  Of the control group, receiving a placebo, 7 contracted LD.

The gel has to be applied every 12 hours over three days to be effective.

While this is certainly a wonderful tool for our toolbox, consider the story of the little girl who in under six hours developed a facial palsy and the inability to walk or talk after a tick bite.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/07/igenex-presentation/   If it were not for the fast actions of an experienced Lyme literate doctor giving her  injectable antibiotics, the outcome could have been devastating and life changing.

This demonstrates that infection can enter the central nervous system quickly and cause neurological symptoms, which if left untreated can cause damage.  I wish the study followed the people for a year, minimum.  Symptoms with Lyme (borrelia) tend to wax, wane, and migrate, often fooling people into thinking their symptoms are age-related.

Also, it’s important to note that no other infections were tested.  Powassan can be contracted in as little as 15 minutes.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/21/powassan-virus/

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks, Treatment