Archive for the ‘Transmission’ Category

How to Protect Yourself From TBEV, Which Isn’t “New”

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/england-ticks-symptoms-splash-europe-

How to protect yourself from the new rare tick-borne disease

Tick-borne encephalitis virus has arrived in the UK. Lisa Salmon finds out more.
Lisa Salmon

April 5, 2023
(Alamy/PA)
(Alamy/PA)

A virus carried by ticks has been found in the UK, and health experts are warning that people need to protect themselves from being bitten.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says the species of tick which carry tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is widespread in the UK.

They stress that although the risk to the public is low, it’s important for people to protect themselves against being bitten by the tiny bugs, which can also transmit the much more common Lyme disease.

“The risk of tick borne encephalitis virus in England is very low, but as ticks can carry other infections, it is as important as ever to be ‘tick aware’,” says Dr Claire Gordon from the UKHSA. “Take steps to reduce your chances of being bitten when outdoors in areas where ticks thrive, such as moorlands and woodlands, and remember to check for ticks and remove them promptly.”

(See link for article)

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SUMMARY:

Category:

Activism, Prevention, Ticks, Transmission, Viruses

Borrelia Miyamotoi Can Be Transmitted From Mother Ticks To Offspring

https://danielcameronmd.com/borrelia-miyamotoi-can-be-transmitted-from-mother-ticks-to-offspring/

BORRELIA MIYAMOTOI CAN BE TRANSMITTED FROM MOTHER TICKS TO OFFSPRING

borrelia-miyamotoi-ticks

Lyme disease and Borrelia miyamotoi can be transmitted from a tick to a host and vice versa (horizontal transmission). B. miyamotoi can also be transmitted from the mother to their offspring (vertical transmission).

By 

In their article “Borrelia miyamotoi: A Comprehensive Review. Pathogens,” Cleveland and colleagues discuss Borrelia miyamotoi as an emerging tick-borne pathogen and and how it can be transmitted from a mother tick to their offspring.

Cleveland et al. reviewed the proposed vertical transmission of B. miyamotoi.¹

  • An adult female tick infected with B. miyamotoi lays eggs.
  • The larva hatch from these eggs infected with B. miyamotoi.
  • The larva, nymph and adult ticks remain infected.

Ticks can acquire B. miyamotoi after feeding on an infected tick – called horizontal transmission.

Cleveland et al. reviewed the proposed horizontal transmission of B. miyamoti.¹

  • The larva, nymph and adult ticks acquire B. miyamoti from feeding on an infected host.
  • The larva, nymph and adult ticks remain infected.

“B. miyamotoi can be transmitted from infected ticks to naïve mice during the first 24 hours of feeding,” the authors wrote.

B. miyamotoi can be transmitted to mice initially through the salivary glands and subsequently transmitted through the midgut.

Concerns surrounding Borrelia miyamotoi

Shapiro and Wormser summarized the challenges associated with B. miyamotoi in the Journal of the American Medical Association.²

  • “This bacterium can be transmitted within the first 24 hours of tick attachment.”
  • “The probability of transmission increases with every day an infected tick is allowed to remain attached.”
  • While some patients with Lyme disease may exhibit a rash, “patients infected with B. miyamotoi in the United States typically do not have a rash.” But they may present with “a fever in conjunction with headache (96%), myalgia (84%), arthralgia (76%), and malaise/fatigue (82%).”
  • There are no diagnostic tests for B. miyamotoi infection that have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
  • The fever may be relapsing.
  • “Laboratory abnormalities include leukopenia (51%) and thrombocytopenia (60%), which are rarely seen in Lyme disease.” [Editor’s note: These are also seen in Ehrlichia and Anaplasmosis.]
  • “Severely immunocompromised patients may develop chronic meningitis.”

Fortunately, doxycycline and amoxicillin have been shown to effectively treat B. miyamotoi infection in patients, including those who are immunocompromised.

Editor’s notes: Fevers are infrequent and often do not relapse. The laboratory abnormalities seen in B. miyamotoi are also seen in Ehrlichia and Anaplasmosis. Long-term outcome studies are needed.

References:
  1. Cleveland DW, Anderson CC, Brissette CA. Borrelia miyamotoi: A Comprehensive Review. Pathogens. Feb 7 2023;12(2)doi:10.3390/pathogens12020267
  2. Shapiro ED, Wormser GP. Lyme Disease in 2018: What Is New (and What Is Not). JAMA. Aug 21 2018;320(7):635-636. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.10974

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Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission

CA Ticks Spread Lyme But That’s Not the Whole Story

https://www.globallymealliance.org/blog/california-ticks-can-spread-lyme-disease-but-thats-not-the-whole-story

California Ticks Can Spread Lyme Disease…But That’s Not the Whole Story

by Paul Killinger on February 24, 2023

<span id="hs_cos_wrapper_name" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="text" >California Ticks Can Spread Lyme Disease…But That’s Not the Whole Story</span>
If you find a tick bite from an Ixodes tick in California, it’s important to consider possible exposure to pathogens that cause more than Lyme disease

Originally published on Medzulabs.org 

The risk of contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite in California has been well-documented, though there is still a long way to go in educating health providers and the broader community in the exposure risk from a tick bite. TickReport’s surveillance of ticks from California (and Oregon and Washington) goes back as far as 2006 and has expanded in recent years.

What ticks are endemic (commonly and consistently found in wild populations) to California and other West Coast states?

That’s a big question, and there are a few dozen species from different genera or families. Many of those species are specialist feeders and—if everything goes “right” in their life cycle—they will only feed on certain wild mammals, birds, or lizards and will bite humans very rarely. That’s doesn’t mean that finding one of these “specialists” attached to ourselves or a family member is impossible: it’s just much less common (and a topic we’ll try to visit soon in another post).

Our surveillance shows that the majority (91.5%) of human or human-adjacent (dogs, cats, horses, etc) tick bites are caused by the following ticks:

  • Ixodes pacificus (“Western black-legged tick,” a close relative of the Deer tick in the Eastern U.S.)
  • Dermacentor variabilis (“American dog tick”)
  • Dermacentor occidentalis (“Pacific Coast tick”)
  • Dermacentor andersoni (“Rocky Mountain Wood tick”)
  • Ixodes spinipalpis
  • Ixodes angustus
What pathogens can these ticks transmit to humans?

Vector competence (the ability of a vector like a tick to transmit a given disease-causing pathogen) tends to run along genus lines, so species within the Ixodes genus tend to be able to transmit pathogens X and Y but not Z, while Dermacentor species tend to transmit Z but not X and Y.

The most common pathogen found in California ticks is Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease in humans and pets. But there’s more than Lyme in those hills! If you find a tick bite from an Ixodes tick in California, it’s also important to consider possible exposure to these pathogens:

  • Borrelia miyamotoi: a bacterium that can cause hard tick relapsing fever—sometimes called Borrelia miyamotoi disease.
  • Anaplasma phagocytophilum: a bacterium that can cause Human granulocyctic Anaplasmosis.
*For every two ticks we find infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease bacteria), we detect one (or more) of these other pathogens

It’s vital that both tick surveillance and diagnostic approaches keep these non-Lyme pathogens in mind. For every two ticks we find infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease bacteria), we detect one (or more) of these other pathogens, so be sure to resist Lyme Tunnel Vision when responding to a tick bite! Common diagnostic tests for Lyme disease have a specific focus on Lyme disease and will not detect infection by these other pathogens if present. Make sure you and your doctor are considering the whole story of a tick bite.

To learn more about the pathogens we find in West Coast ticks, browse our real-time testing data at TickReport.com/stats. If you find and remove a tick, arrange for fast and accurate identification and testing at TickReport.com.
The above material is provided for information purposes only. The material (a) is not nor should be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor (b) does it necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of Global Lyme Alliance, Inc. or any of its directors, officers, advisors or volunteers. Advice on the testing, treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a physician who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patient’s medical history. 

Paul Killinger oversees tick surveillance and pathogen testing at the TickReport testing lab in Amherst, Massachusetts. He has led the lab's public health education and outreach since 2018.

Category:

Activism, Anaplasmosis, Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission

Migratory Songbirds Transport Amblyomma Ticks to Canada

https://www.jelsciences.com/articles/jbres1659.pdf

Migratory Songbirds Transport Amblyomma longirostre and Amblyomma maculatum Ticks to Canada

John D Scott1 *, Jaclyn TA McKeown2 and Catherine M Scott1 1 Upper Grand Tick Centre, 365 St. David Street South, Fergus, Ontario N1M 2L7, Canada 2 Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada *Corresponding author(s) John D Scott, Upper Grand Tick Centre, 365 St. David Street South, Fergus, Ontario N1M 2L7, Canada Email: jkscott@bserv.com DOI: 10.37871/jbres1659

Submitted: 23 January 2023 Accepted: 02 February 2023 Published: 06 February 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Scott JD, et al. Distributed under Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0

OPEN ACCESS

VOLUME: 4 ISSUE: 2 – FEBRUARY, 2023 BIOLOGY GROUP PARASITOLOGY MOLECULAR BIOLOGY INFECTIOUS DISEASES

ABSTRACT

Birds transport ticks into Canada during northward spring migration, and some of these ticks are infected with tick-borne zoonotic pathogens. Some Amblyomma species harbour pathogens that cause debilitating diseases that can be fatal to humans, and domestic and wildlife animals. At least 65 Amblyomma spp. are indigenous in the Western Hemisphere, and approximately half bite humans. Amblyomma longirostre carries Rickettsia amblyommatis which causes spotted fever group rickettsiosis, a febrile disease in humans. Additionally, Amblyomma maculatum harbors and transmits Rickettsia parkeri, a spotted fever group rickettsiosis, and this tick bites humans. In the present study, we use two technologies to identify ticks. To confirm identification, we took microphotographs followed by DNA barcoding of the cytochrome c oxidase I gene. Based on molecular analysis, we confirmed that the two Amblyomma spp. were Amblyomma longirostre, a neotropical tick and Amblyomma maculatum, the Gulf Coast tick. Based on our tick-bird findings, we confirm that migratory songbirds transport Amblyomma ticks into Canada, and have the potential, either directly or indirectly, to transmit tick-borne zoonotic pathogens to humans.

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**Comment**

Amblyomma ticks, like other ticks, have many species.  The best known in the U.S. is Amblyomma americanum, commonly known as the lone star tick, which is fast and aggressive and clusters in groups of 2,000-8,000 until they are nymphs which means those who brush up  against a cluster could have hundreds to thousands attaching simultaneously.  Females are distinguished by a white dot, hence “star” on her back. They have swarmed a town in Martha’s Vineyard and are typically associated with Southern states; however, this important work shows that once again ticks commonly defy the narrative that they only exist in certain geographical locations.  This is a huge problem that needs to be addressed and not blamed on climate change, the latest cash cow for researchers, which will only divert precious research dollars into the hands of those who will not help sick patients one iota.

Patients to this day are denied a diagnosis and treatment due to some bone-headed doctor looking at a map.

Other species of Amblyomma ticks are common in Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Most attach to birds, and migration of avian hosts has been unfortunately downplayed in favor of “climate change,” but is far more implicated in dissemination of tick-borne diseases than “experts” admit.

Recently established populations of Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast) ticks were discovered in New York, further demonstrating that ticks don’t seem to bother with maps.

While rodents, particularly the white footed mouse, get all the air-play regarding tick proliferation, many birds travel great distances and are transporting ticks into new locations.  Rather than focusing on research that will truly help sick patients, researchers have focused on releasing hordes of GMO mice into the wild.  Similarly to the experimental gene therapy COVID injections, nobody has a clue about the unintended consequences.  Funding for said research becomes crystal clear when you discover that DARPA has a defense advanced research project called “Insect Allies” which is designed to genetically modify mature plants in a live environment by releasing insects infected with GMO viruses. They have also developed “remote-controlled insects.”  This type of research is all the rage now.

Their goal: release all this into the wild and repeat, “It’s safe and effective.”

Category:

Activism, research, Ticks, Transmission

Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33085436/

Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophicans

Anita Gade 1, Taraneh Matin, Richard Rubenstein 2, Carolyn A. Robinson
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan.
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Excerpt:

Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) is a late and chronic manifestation of Lyme borreliosis (LB). ACA predominantly involves the distal portions of extremities and is characterized by chronic cutaneous atrophy. Unlike other skin manifestations of Lyme disease, including erythema migrans (EM) and borrelial lymphocytoma (BL), ACA does not spontaneously resolve. If untreated, ACA may progress from bluish-red discoloration and inflammation to chronic atrophy and fibrosis, with the late-stage being more treatment-resistant.

ACA was first described in 1883 by Buchwald in Germany, and cases were later reported in 1895 in North America. The diagnosis of ACA is based on clinical presentation, as well as serologic testing and histopathologic confirmation. Recognizing ACA is often challenging due to variable latency in disease onset following the primary borrelial infection, and lack of symptoms leading to delay in seeking treatment.

Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in the northeastern United States. It is a multisystem disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.It is transmitted to humans via an Ixodes tick bite. There are 3 skin manifestations of LB: Erythema migrans (stage 1) with a characteristic “bull’s eye rash,” which, if untreated, can be followed by early disseminated infection, borrelial lymphocytoma (stage 2) along with neurologic and cardiac abnormalities, and late infection, especially arthritis in North America or acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (stage 3) in Europe. Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is the most common late and chronic manifestation of LB. Approximately 20% of patients with ACA have a history of spontaneously healed EM, usually on an extremity where the ACA lesion developed 6 months to 8 years later.

Sections

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**Comment**

While ‘the powers that be’ continue to want to confine this complex illness within numerical stages and a “one size fits all” box, please know that patients have jumped from stage to stage in no particular order, with some requiring much longer courses of antibiotics/treatments.

For more:

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks, Transmission