Archive for the ‘Transmission’ Category

Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding. And It’s Only going to Get Worse

https://elemental.medium.com/lyme-disease-cases-are-exploding-and-its-only-going-to-get-worse-5d3c3a2de5c5

Lyme Disease Cases Are Exploding. And It’s Only Going to Get Worse.

Climate change and human sprawl have triggered a pandemic

By Alex Bhattacharji

This story is part of “Tickpocalypse,” a multi-part special report.

Kelly Oggenfuss is walking into the woods. Leading her team of four young researchers through a thicket of slender oak trees, she doles out assignments by letters corresponding to a grid. As early morning light filters through the canopy, Oggenfuss and her colleagues pull on latex gloves then disperse to gather surveillance data.

Please see link for entire article.

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**Comment**

Glad they mentioned “co-feeding” and the probability they are spreading more pathogens into us more quickly, increasing prevalence. 

Glad they state this is a pandemic and the increase of ticks is everywhere making maps a joke. Throw them away. They’ve been used against patients from the get-go.

Although Lyme disease has been around forever, tinkering with it in a lab and making it more pathogenic isn’t a “theory,” it’s what bioweaponization means, and it’s far more than just Lyme. I’d say the experiment has been highly successful.

The Lymerix vaccine was a complete fail:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/01/lyme-vaccine-fail-safety-ignored/ Both dogs and humans have been given Lyme symptoms due to the vaccine. That’s a big deal. Shame on them for underplaying it.

They briefly mention the role of birds but fail once again by bringing the climate into it. Out of one side of their mouth they state ticks are marvelous ecoadaptors and then out of the other side of their mouth they blame the climate. You can’t have it both ways. Please note the DOD, DARPA, & the EPA are funding the supposed “link” between ticks & climate change….that is quite telling. They would rather blame the weather than take responsibility for tweaking ticks in a lab that perhaps gave them the ability to live on stucco & in dirt and be more aggressive….hmmm. Yeah, blame the climate.

Having the EM rash is highly variable from 25%-80%.  It should not be used as criteria for entrance into research studies nor as a required sign by doctors for diagnosis as so many do not get it. If you do have it – you have Lyme, but if you don’t, you could still have Lyme.

This article as actually quite a treatise on “Why nothing has been done to fix the Lyme/MSIDS problem.” For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/14/canadian-tick-expert-climate-change-is-not-behind-lyme-disease/  Excerpt:  

“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.” John Scott

Ouch. 

An independent Canadian researcher who doesn’t have strings attached to his work points out all the marionettes on strings in the research world, who by the way, refuse to even acknowledge his work…..and even advocates are guilty of jumping on a Bandwagon built upon faulty science. 

Let us never stoop as low as the enemy who has twisted science to suit their purpose from the beginning.
For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/22/why-mainstream-lyme-msids-research-remains-in-the-dark-ages/

Lastly, please note the TBDWG has taken a supposed new turn and is leaving patients out of the process. Is this really shocking when you read the above issues?

For more on the bioweaponization issue: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/19/biological-warfare-experiment-on-american-citizens-results-in-spreading-pandemic/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/21/got-15-minutes-the-officially-ignored-link-between-lyme-plum-island/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/19/its-1984/Excerpt from interview:

. . .I am a biologist, so that’s where I started working on ticks and mosquitoes—how to produce a lot of them. Drop them out of airplanes. Everything was very hush-hush, very secret. I’m still leery talking about it, because I think they might put me in jail because I’m delivering secrets. [Laughs.] It was a crazy time.

We would run all kinds of distribution tests on where these things go when you release them and what were the factors that would cause the migration. Can we drop them out of airplanes and how do we get the bugs to the enemy? That was the thing we did. – James Oliver

https://www.lymedisease.org/lymepolicywonk-questioning-governments-role-lyme-disease-make-conspiracy-theorist/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/27/lyme-biowarfare-4-video-series/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission, Treatment

Emerging Babesia sp. Similar to Babesia Motasi in 1st Human Case & Ticks in Korea (Asian Long-horned & Haemaphysalis Flava)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31179860

2019;8(1):869-878. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2019.1622997.

Detection and characterization of an emerging type of Babesia sp. similar to Babesia motasi for the first case of human babesiosis and ticks in Korea.

Hong SH1, Kim SY1, Song BG1, Rho JR1, Cho CR2, Kim CN3, Um TH2, Kwak YG4, Cho SH1, Lee SE1.

Abstract

Babesiosis is a tick-transmitted intraerythrocytic zoonosis. In Korea, the first mortalities were reported in 2005 due to Babesia sp. detection in sheep; herein we report epidemiological and genetic characteristics of a second case of babesiosis. Microscopic analysis of patient blood revealed polymorphic merozoites. To detect Babesia spp., PCR was performed using Babesia specific primers for β-tubulin, 18S rDNA, COB, and COX3 gene fragments. 18S rDNA analysis for Babesia sp., showed 98% homology with ovine Babesia sp. and with Babesia infections in Korea in 2005. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA, COB, and COX3 revealed close associations with B. motasi. For identifying the infectious agent, Haemaphysalis longicornis (296) and Haemaphysalis flava (301) were collected around the previous residence of the babesiosis patient. Babesia genes were identified in three H. longicornis: one sample was identified as B. microti and two samples were 98% homologous to B. motasi.

Our study is the first direct confirmation of the infectious agent for human babesiosis. This case most likely resulted from tick bites from ticks near the patient house of the babesiosis patient. H. longicornis has been implicated as a vector of B. microti and other Babesia sp. infections.

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**Comment**

Everyone’s been waiting with bated breath on what the Asian Long-horned tick is transmitting.  We know it’s transmitting numerous pathogens in Asia but has yet to be found to transmit pathogens here in the U.S., although the tick itself is spreading geographically like wildfire. This is the tick that clones itself and drains cattle of its blood. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/03/12/asian-tick-found-in-new-jersey-can-kill-cattle-by-draining-them-of-blood/

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/vbz.2018.2298  This article shows the ticks and transmittable diseases in South Korea.

The full-length article tells the unfortunate story of an elderly men’s death 36 hours after hospitalization due to an emerging type of Babesia due to a tick bite. 

A blood sample was obtained from the jugular vein in the patient that presented with dizziness and general weakness. 

No microorganisms were isolated from the blood culture.

Microscopy revealed the following:

Upon light microscopic examination, variable intraerythrocytic parasites as ring forms, pear-shaped forms, paired pyriforms, pleomorphic ring forms, and multiple-infected parasites and clusters of extracellular rings were detected in Giemsa-stained blood smears. The percentage of parasitaemia was 1.8% (Figure 1). Maltese cross forms comprising four masses in an erythrocyte that are often described as a characteristic of B. microti infection were not detected in most blood smears (Figure 1).

Please note that the patient would have failed a simple blood test and even microscopy revealed atypical findings as well as the fact parasitemia was less than 2%.

Yet, 2% was enough to kill a man.

Tick collections were performed by dividing the area around the patient’s residence and the findings were:

A total of 597 ticks were collected around the patient’s residence, including 296 H. longicornis (186 adult, 41 nymphs, and 68 larvae) and 301 Haemaphysalis flava (1 adult and 300 larvae) (Table 2). Among these, 94% of the ticks were collected in both the front yard of patient’s residence (442 ticks) and associated hill III (124 ticks). Based on the results of the amplification of Babesia genes in each tick, 2 (0.3%) were positive for 18S rDNA of Babesia species, 1 (0.2%) for COB and COX3, and 1 (0.2%) for β-tubulin gene of B. microti. While the nymph of H. longicornis yielded a positive result for only 18S rDNA, one female tick of H. longicornis yielded positive results for 18S rDNA, COB, and COX3 gene fragments. Also, one female tick of H. longicornis only yielded positive results for β-tubulin gene of B. microti (Table 3).

Please note two things: the high amount of ticks found right in his yard and the low incidence of infected ticks – yet, it only took one to kill him.

The Discussion section reveals some interesting things:

Previously, seven different Babesia spp., B. microti, B. divergens, B. bovis, B. canis, B. duncani, B. venatorium, and a novel Babesia sp. similar to ovine babesias were reported to cause human babesiosis...Human babesiosis (KCDC-1) in 2017 was the second case identified in Korea and the sequence of Babesia sp. was very closely related to that of KO1 and Liaoning, China. These large Babesia are clearly distinct from other agents of human babesiosis based on their shape and phylogeny. These results suggest that the causative agent in their case of babesiosis is a novel large Babesia parasite infecting humans and may be highly fatal….

the identified Babesia parasites (in the patient) might be B. motasi, and this is the first study to detect B. motasi in human babesiosis and H. longicornis in Korea.

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For more on Babesia:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/01/bb-new-strain-of-babesia-found-in-tick-on-a-tropical-bird-in-canada/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/11/babesia-widespread-in-canada-its-high-tolerance-to-therapy/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/21/could-it-be-babesia/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/05/variable-clinical-presentations-of-babesiosis/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/22/babesiosis-in-pregnancy-an-imitator-of-hellp-syndrome/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/26/fda-recommends-testing-for-tick-borne-illness-in-donated-blood-a-big-duh/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/11/transfusion-transmitted-babesiosis-one-states-experience/

 

Category:

Babesia, research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission

Lyme Disease Transmission: Can It Spread From Person to Person?

https://www.healthline.com/health/is-lyme-disease-contagious?

Written by Marjorie Hecht

Medically reviewed by Gerhard Whitworth, RNon

June 11, 2019

Lyme Disease Transmission: Can It Spread from Person to Person?

Can you catch Lyme disease from someone else? The short answer is no. There’s no direct evidence that Lyme disease is contagious. The exception is pregnant women, who can transmit it to their fetus.

Lyme disease is a systemic infection caused by spirochete bacteria transmitted by black-legged deer ticks. The corkscrew-shaped bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, are similar to the spirochete bacteria that cause syphilis.

Lyme disease can become debilitating for some people and life-threatening if it isn’t treated.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)Trusted Source estimates that 300,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with Lyme each year. But many cases may go unreported. Other studies suggest that the incidence of Lyme may be as high as 1 million cases per year.

Diagnosis is challenging because Lyme symptoms mimic those of many other diseases.

Historical facts about Lyme

  • Lyme takes its name from the Connecticut town where several children developed what looked like rheumatoid arthritis in the 1970s. The culprit was thought to be a tick bite.
  • In 1982, scientist Willy Burgdorfer identified the bacterial causeTrusted Source of the illness. The tick-borne bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, is named after him.
  • Lyme isn’t a new disease. Lyme-type spirochetes were found in the Tyrolean IcemanTrusted Source, a 5,300-year-old well-preserved body discovered in the Alps in 1991.

What’s the most common way to get Lyme?

Blacklegged deer ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi transmit the Lyme bacteria when they bite. The ticks, Ixodes scapularis (Ixodes pacificus on the West Coast), can also transmit other disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and parasites. These are called coinfections.

A tick requires a blood meal at each stage of its life — as larvae, nymphs, and adults. Ticks normally feed on animals, ground-feeding birds, or reptiles. Humans are a secondary blood source.

Most bites to humans are from tick nymphs, which are the size of poppy seeds. It’s hard to spot them, even on open skin. The prime seasons for human tick bites are late spring and summer.

As an infected tick feeds on you, it injects spirochetes into your blood. Animal researchTrusted Source has shown that the severity (virulence) of infection varies, depending on whether the spirochetes are from the tick’s salivary glands or the tick’s midgut. In this animal research, infection required 14 times more midgut spirochetes than saliva spirochetes.

Depending on the tick’s bacterial virulence, you could be infected with Lyme within 24 hoursTrusted Sourceof the tick bite.

Can you get Lyme from bodily fluids?

Lyme bacteria may be found in bodily fluids, such as:

  • saliva
  • urine
  • breast milk

But there’s no hard evidence that Lyme spreads from person to person via contact with bodily fluids. So don’t worry about kissing someone with Lyme.

Can you get Lyme from sexual transmission?

There’s no direct evidence that Lyme is sexually transmitted by humans. Lyme experts are divided about the possibility.

“The evidence for sexual transmission that I’ve seen is very weak and certainly not conclusive in any scientific sense,” Dr. Elizabeth Maloney told Healthline. Maloney is president of the Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education.

Dr. Sam Donta, another Lyme researcher, agreed.

On the other hand, Lyme researcher Dr. Raphael Stricker told Healthline,

“There’s no reason why the Lyme spirochete can’t be sexually transmitted by human beings. How commonly it occurs, or how difficult it is, we don’t know.”

Stricker has called for a “Manhattan Project” approach to Lyme, including more research.

Indirect studies of human transmission are suggestiveTrusted Source, but not definitive. A few animal studiesof sexual transmission of the Lyme spirochete have shown that it does occur in some cases.

It’s not ethical to test sexual transmission by deliberately infecting humans, as was done with syphilis in the past. (The syphilis spirochete is transmitted sexually.)

A 2014 studyTrusted Source found live Lyme spirochetes in semen and vaginal secretions of people with documented Lyme. But this doesn’t necessarily mean there are enough spirochetes to spread infection.

Can you get Lyme from a blood transfusion?

There are no documented cases of Lyme transmission via a blood transfusion.

But the Lyme spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has been isolated from human blood, and an older 1990 research studyTrusted Source found that Lyme spirochetes could survive the normal blood bank storage procedures. For this reason, the CDCTrusted Source recommends that people being treated for Lyme shouldn’t donate blood.

On the other hand, there have been more than 30 cases of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis, a parasite coinfection of the same black-legged tick that transmits Lyme.

Can Lyme be transmitted during pregnancy?

A pregnant woman with untreated Lyme can transmit the infectionTrusted Source to the fetus. But if they receive adequate treatment for Lyme, adverse effects are unlikely.

A 2009 studyTrusted Source of 66 pregnant women found that untreated women had a significantly higher risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Infection from the mother to the fetus can occur within the first three months of pregnancy, according to Donta. If the mother is untreated, the infection would result in congenital abnormalities or miscarriage.

There’s no credible evidence, Donta said, that maternal-to-fetal transmission manifests itself months to years later in the child.

Lyme treatment for pregnant women is the same as for others with Lyme, except that antibiotics in the tetracycline family shouldn’t be used.

Can you get Lyme from your pets?

There’s no evidence of direct transmission of Lyme from pets to humans. But dogs and other domestic animals can bring Lyme-carrying ticks into your home. These ticks could attach to you and cause infection.

It’s a good practice to check your pets for ticks after they’ve been in tall grass, underbrush, or wooded areas where ticks are common.

Symptoms to watch for if you’ve been around ticks

The symptoms of Lyme vary widely and mimic those of many other diseases. Here are some common symptoms:

  • flat red rash, shaped like an oval or bull’s-eye (but note that you can still have Lyme without this rash)
  • fatigue
  • flu symptoms such as headache, fever, and general malaise
  • joint pain or swelling
  • light sensitivity
  • emotional or cognitive changes
  • neurological problems such as loss of balance
  • heart problems

Again, there’s no direct evidence of person-to-person transmission of Lyme. If someone you live with has Lyme and you develop symptoms, it’s most likely because you’re both exposed to the same tick population around you.

Preventative measures

Take preventive measures if you’re in an area where there are ticks (and deer):

  • Wear long pants and long sleeves.
  • Spray yourself with an effective insect repellent.
  • Check yourself and your pets for ticks if you’ve been in an area where there are ticks.

The takeaway

Lyme is an underreported epidemic in the United States. Diagnosis is challenging because Lyme symptoms are like those of many other diseases.

There’s no evidence that Lyme is contagious. The one documented exception is that pregnant women can transmit the infection to their fetus.

Lyme and its treatment are controversial topics. More research and research funding are needed.

If you suspect you have Lyme, see a doctor, preferably one who has Lyme experience. The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) can provide a list of Lyme-aware doctors in your area.

**Please see link at top of page for Sources**

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**Comment**

Sigh…..here we go again.

“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence!”

Since borrelia is extremely evasive and difficult to culture and observe due to its affinity to sequester in tissues, & organs including the brain, prudence would err on the side of caution – which has not been the case historically.

Please understand that both Donta and Maloney (I respect them both) are highly vested in mainstream medicine due to their current roles. Donta is on the tick-borne disease working group and Maloney offers continuing medical education to doctors. Both feel the acute pressure of mainstream medicine and it’s emphasis on peer-reviewed, double blind placebo studies.  Problem is – those things don’t exist for Lyme/MSIDS. This monster just doesn’t fit into that paradigm at present and nobody’s doing the required work, which is:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/04/13/chronic-lyme-post-mortem-study-needed-to-end-the-lyme-wars/

Since Lyme/MSIDS is such a controversial subject, those in the spotlight, such as Donta and Maloney have taken a rigid stand that unless science has proven it, it’s unlikely.

Dr. Stricker, on the other hand, is still treating patients and sees a different reality.

That’s an important distinction. Notice the two viewpoints:

  1. Donta & Maloney: The evidence is weak and inconclusive and therefore unlikely.
  2. Stricker: There’s no reason why Lyme can’t be spread sexually….

In sum, while there is no DIRECT evidence, there’s plenty of indirect evidence and studies showing transmission by numerous means:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/24/microbiology-professor-im-convinced-lyme-disease-is-transmittable-from-person-to-person/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/02/transmission-of-lyme-disease-lida-mattman-phd/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/14/lab-acquired-infections-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/02/24/pcos-lyme-my-story/

Genital lesions (By Dr. MacDonald who states he predicted Lyme transmission in the bedroom in 1986)

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/are-mosquitoes-transmitting-lyme-disease/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26631488/  Excerpt:

…results show that DNA of Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia bavariensis and Borrelia garinii could be detected in ten Culicidae species comprising four distinct genera (Aedes, Culiseta, Culex, and Ochlerotatus). Positive samples also include adult specimens raised in the laboratory from wild-caught larvae indicating that transstadial and/or transovarial transmission might occur within a given mosquito population.

BTW: the last study on the potential of other bugs transmitting Lyme (minus the German study on mosquitos) was done over 30 years ago.  And, while no spirochetes were isolated from the hamsters, antibodies were found – even back then.

All I can say is I wished I knew about the potential of sexual transmission. This knowledge could have potentially spared me from disease which has been life-changing to say the least.

One thing’s for sure – the research is screaming to be done, yet The Cabal prefers to sit on their ivory tower and just proclaim the only way for you to become infected with Lyme is solely through the bite of the black-legged tick.

Sorry.  I just don’t believe people who have patents on the organism, test kits, and vaccines.

ConflictReport

Category:

Lyme, Transmission

Morgellons & Lyme Disease Connection – Joe Rogan: “Lyme Disease is Terrifying”

**Warning – explicit language in each video**

 Scroll to 2:21

Joe Rogan on the Morgellons & Lyme Disease Connection

“Everyone who has Morgellons also has Lyme disease.”

Rogan explains how a tick is full of pathogens – Lyme is only one of many.

There’s discussion on Bells Palsy and some doctors state to just wait until it goes away.  I would caution this approach as this is often a Lyme disease symptom. While symptoms wax and wane with Lyme disease, just because the symptom disappears does not mean you are not still infected systemically. Waxing and waning symptoms is hallmark of Lyme disease. You need to see a Lyme literate doctor who understands these things. (Contact your local support group to find these specially trained doctors) In this article, Dr. Cameron warns against using steroids for facial palsy due to this practice causing refractory disease in Lyme/MSIDS patients:  http://danielcameronmd.com/steroid-use-can-lead-long-term-treatment-failure-lyme-disease-patients/

 Approx. 10 Min.

Taken from Joe Rogan Experience #1234 w/David Sinclair

Joe Rogan: “Lyme disease is terrifying”

Approx. 15 Min.

Joe Rogan Experience podcast #873 with Steven Kotler

Around 5:00 he talks about Morgellons as well.

For More on Morgellons:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/19/skin-deep-the-battle-over-morgellons/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/16/study-strengthens-association-between-tickborne-infections-morgellons-disease/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/03/05/morgellons-not-a-delusion-states-new-study/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/10/morgellons-in-dogs/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/29/mixed-borrelia-burgdorferi-helicobacter-pylori-biofilms-in-morgellons-disease-dermatological-specimens/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/08/february-morgellons-awareness-month/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks, Transmission

Ticks? There’s An App For That

TICKS? THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT
Just in time for summer tick season, a free smartphone app is now available to better understand and limit exposure to disease-carrying ticks. The Tick App helps scientists track the threat of tick-borne diseases and also serves as a prevention tool for users, providing a tick risk forecast by location and information on how to prevent tick bites and identify and remove ticks. The app was developed in part by the Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease, co-directed by Lyric Bartholomay, professor in the UW School of Veterinary Medicine.

Category:

Activism, Ticks, Transmission