Linda’s comment: expansion of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis is driving Lyme disease emergence in Canada. With all the rain and moisture this year there will be hundreds of thousands more ticks every place in the US and Canada. BE prepared…
Link:
Excerpt:
Conclusions: These data are consistent with I. scapularis ticks dispersed from the USA, by migratory birds, founding populations where the climate is warmest, then establishment of B. burgdorferi from the USA several years after I. scapularis have established. These observations provide vital information for public health to minimize the impact of LD in Canada.
Abstract From May until October 2007, a total of 658 Ixodes
ricinus ticks were collected off birds (189), rodents (273), and
vegetation (196) in a certain area of Middle Germany and
investigated for infection with Babesia spp., Anaplasma
phagocytophilum, and Rickettsia spp. Overall, 13.1% (86/658) of
the ticks were infected with at least one pathogen; co-infections
occurred in 0.6% (4/658).
Babesia spp. specific DNA was detected in 9.7% (64/658) of the
ticks, 1.4%
(9/658) were infected with A. phagocytophilum, and 2.6% (17/658)
harbored rickettsiae. At least two different Rickettsia species
were identified:
Rickettsia monacensis and Rickettsia helvetica. Our study
provides first interesting insights into the circulation and
co-circulation of several emerging pathogens not only in ticks
parasitizing birds and small mammals as potential reservoirs but
also in questing ticks in a single natural habitat.
A group of 16 isolates with genotypic characteristics different
from those of known species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato
(sl) complex were cultured from ear biopsies of the rodents
Peromyscus gossypinus and Neotoma floridana trapped at 5
localities in South Carolina, United States. Multilocus sequence
analysis involving 16S rRNA, 5S-23S (rrf-rrl) intergenic spacer
region, flagellin, ospA and p66 genes was used to clarify the
taxonomic status of the new group of B.
burgdorferi sl isolates. Phylogenetic analysis based on
concatenated sequences of 5 analyzed genomic loci showed that the
16 isolates clustered together but separately from the other
species in the B. burgdorferi sl complex. The analyzed group
therefore represents a new species, for which the name Borrelia
carolinensis was proposed, with the type strain Borrelia
carolinensis strain SCW-22T (=ATCC BAA-1773T =DSMZ 22119 T).
Multilocus sequence analysis of new species was conducted and
published previously. Here we present the formal description of
Borrelia carolinensis sp. nov., isolated from rodents and tick
from southeastern United States.
Retroviruses are classified as exogenous or endogenous according to their mode of transmission. Generally, endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are not pathogenic in their original hosts; however, some ERVs induce diseases. In humans, a novel gammaretrovirus was discovered in patients with prostate cancer or chronic fatigue syndrome. This virus was closely related to xenotropic murine leukemia virus (X-MLV) and designated as xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV). The origin and transmission route of XMRV are still unknown at present; however, XMRV may be derived from ERVs of rodents because X-MLVs are ERVs of inbred and wild mice. Many live attenuated vaccines for animals are manufactured by using cell lines from animals, which are known to produce infectious ERVs; however, the risks of infection by ERVs from xenospecies through vaccination have been ignored.
*********They had to spend thousands perhaps, even more to find that Birds are playing an important role in the spread of Lyme Disease?? What??? Are you telling me that birds stop at each border and request the right to fly over your state?? What a big waste of money….why doesn’t Yale and the Infectious Disease docs and other specialists at Yale, who say there is NO chronic Lyme, spend money finding a cure for Lyme disease instead of finding out what we patient’s already know. Give me a break!!
*********It is time that patient’s start standing up and pushing back….sitting back and doing nothing is getting us no where.
*********We need to stop “fearing” city hall, when we can be city hall in these Lyme wars.
*********Just remember folks, Lyme isn’t just carried by ticks….look to birds, rodents, mice, we need to understand that it is up to us Lymie’s to take a stand.
Regards,
Linda
Article Excerpt:
New Haven, Conn. – The range of Lyme disease is spreading in North America and it appears that birds play a significant role by transporting the Lyme disease bacterium over long distances, a new study by the Yale School of Public Health has found. The study appears online in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Researchers analyzed published records and concluded that at least 70 species of North American birds are susceptible to infection by black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), the principal vector of the Lyme disease bacterium (Borrelia burgdorferi). The evidence also suggests that these bird species are dispersing infected ticks into areas that had previously been free of the disease, such as Canada.
Lyme disease bacterium is usually associated with small mammals such as mice and squirrels. Immature ticks (in the larval and nymphal stages) become infected with the bacterium when they feed on these mammals. During subsequent blood meals, an infected tick transmits the infection to other hosts, including humans. White-tailed deer-while playing an important role in maintaining and spreading tick populations-are a biological dead end for the bacterium because its blood is immune to infection.
Birds, however, are not immune and numerous species get infected and are capable of transmitting the pathogen onto ticks, the researchers found. What remains to be seen is whether the B. burgdorferi strains that can infect birds can also cause disease in humans. If so, the role of birds in the epidemiology of Lyme disease could be profound.
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