All Posts Tagged With: "ticks"

Simultaneous presence of A. phagocytophilum and different genospecies of B.
burgdorferi s.l. complex was recorded in 16 ticks, co-infection with
different B. burgdorferi s. l. genospecies was found in 15 ticks and eight
ticks harbored mixed infections with F. tularensis and B. burgdorferi s.l.
genospecies. Less common were triple pathogen species infections, detected
in three ticks, one infected with A. phagocytophilum / B. burgdorferi s.s. /
B. lusitaniae and two infected with F. tularensis / B. burgdorferi s.s. / B.
lusitaniae. No mixed infections of A. phagocytophilum and F. tularensis were
detected.

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.

Link: http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/02/15/ticks-lizard-lyme-disease/ 

Excerpt:

BERKELEY — The Western fence lizard’s reputation for helping to reduce the threat of Lyme disease is in jeopardy. A new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that areas where the lizard had been removed saw a subsequent drop in the population of the ticks that transmit Lyme disease.

Linda’s comments:  This comment by Wormser  raises my blood pressure ::::“It is so new in our area, it has flown under the radar,” says Moore’s physician Gary P. Wormser, M.D., the chief of infectious diseases at Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College and head of a team researching tick diseases. “A lot of patients haven’t heard of it, and a lot of doctors don’t know about it.”::::

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41973641/ns/health-infectious_diseases/

Excerpt:

Wild raspberries lured Jacqueline Moore over the wall of her new garden in Westchester County, New York. It was July 2008, and Moore, her husband and their two small kids had just moved up from Manhattan. She was painting the kitchen, up on a ladder, when she glanced out the window and spotted the flash of red. She was thrilled: This was what they had left the city for. She called the kids, and they hopped over the wall. They picked raspberries every day for two weeks. 

About the time the berries ran out, Moore—who was 34 then, a personal trainer and marathoner—started feeling an achein her neck and shoulder. She thought painting the ceiling was to blame; or maybe it was the borrowed mattress she and her husband were sleeping on. Then she noticed herself getting irritable. Family were visiting to see the new house, and “I was having trouble taking care of the guests,” she recalls. “Every day, I would be twice as tired as I had been the day before.” …..

“It is so new in our area, it has flown under the radar,” says Moore’s physician Gary P. Wormser, M.D., the chief of infectious diseases at Westchester Medical Center and New York Medical College and head of a team researching tick diseases. “A lot of patients haven’t heard of it, and a lot of doctors don’t know about it.”

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21157575&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Using multilocus sequence analyses (MLSA), we investigated the phylogenetic
relationship of spirochaete strains from North America previously assigned
to the genospecies Borrelia bissettii. We amplified internal fragments of 8
housekeeping genes (clpA, clpX, nifS, pepX, pyrG, recG, rplB, and uvrA)
located on the main linear chromosome by polymerase chain reaction.
Phylogenetic analysis of concatenated sequences of the 8 loci showed that
the B. bissettii clade consisted of 4 closely related clusters which
included strains from California (including the type strain DN127-Cl9-2/p7)
and Colorado that were isolated from Ixodes pacificus, I. spinipalpis, or
infected reservoir hosts.
Several strains isolated from I. scapularis clustered distantly from B.
bissettii. Genetic distance analyses confirmed that these strains are more
distant to B. bissettii than they are to B. carolinensis, a recently
described Borrelia species, which suggests that they constitute a new
Borrelia genospecies. We propose that it be named Borrelia kurtenbachii sp.
nov. in honour of the late Klaus Kurtenbach. The data suggest that
ecological differences between B. bissettii and the new Borrelia genospecies
reflect different transmission cycles. In view of these findings, the
distinct vertebrate host-tick vector associations and the distributions of
B. bissettii and B. kurtenbachii require further investigation.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21156061&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

RESULTS: This study
reveals the digestive machinery of the I. ricinus during the course of
blood-feeding on the host. The dynamic profiling of concentrations,
activities and mRNA expressions of the major digestive enzymes demonstrates
that the de novo synthesis of peptidases triggers the dramatic increase of
the hemoglobinolytic activity along the feeding period. Overall
hemoglobinolysis, as well as the activity of digestive peptidases are
negligible at the early stage of feeding, but increase dramatically towards
the end of the slow feeding period, reaching maxima in fully fed ticks. This
finding contradicts the established opinion that blood digestion is reduced
at the end of engorgement.
Furthermore, we show that the digestive proteolysis is localized
intracellularly throughout the whole duration of feeding. 
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the
egressing proteolytic system in the early stage of feeding and digestion is
a potential target for efficient impairment, most likely by blocking its
components via antibodies present in the host blood. Therefore, digestive
enzymes are promising candidates for development of novel ‘anti-tick’
vaccines capable of tick control and even transmission of tick-borne
pathogens.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=21223661&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

OBJECTIVE: To understand the carrying status of Borrelia burgdorferi in
ticks from the mountain areas from six representative provinces, including
Jilin, Shanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Guizhou and Hunan in China. 

METHODS: Flagging and
trapping methods were used to collect ticks in forest area and culture
medium was used to isolate the pathogen. Nested-PCR was used to detect the
germ-carrying rate of ticks. 

RESULTS: More than 2200 ticks from six
representative provinces were collected and 1000 ticks were used to isolate
the pathogen. 13 Lyme disease spirochetes from ixodes persulcatus in
Changbai, Jilin province and 9 Lyme disease spirochetes from ixodes
granulatus in Daozhen, Guizhou province were identified. There were 1255
ticks used for PCR testing.
Specific fragments of the Borrelia burgdorferi in ticks were found from the
six representative provinces in China. The carrier rate was higher in Jilin
(Changbai 27.08%, Tonghua 20.41%), Qinghai (Huzhu 25.06%, Huangnan 21.11%)
and Guizhou (Daozhen 25.63%), than in Shanxi (Yuanqu 4.72%, Jiaocheng
3.64%). Result from the sequence analysis showed that the genotype belong to
Borrelia garinii in Jilin, Qinghai, Gansu, Shanxi provinces but Borrelia
valaisiana in Guizhou and Hunan provinces. 

CONCLUSION: Our data showed that there existed Lyme disease spirochetes in
all the six representative provinces in China, but the carrying rates of
ticks were different. Borrelia garinii was found in Shanxi province, and
Borrelia valaisiana in Hunan province.

Excerpt:

“Q fever epidemic in the Chamonix valley” (France), is a recent headline from ProMed-mail.1 To date, 79 clinical cases have been identified with a further 22 seropositive individuals. This report has been followed by an outbreak affecting up to 86 people from Newport, South Wales.2 The causative organism, Coxiella burnetii has its reservoir in a broad range of vertebrates and arthropods.3 It is typically transmitted by the aerosol route, where it causes a zoonotic infection, but the source of this current outbreak remains elusive, as is often the case in retrospective epidemiological investigations.

Primary infection in human beings is symptomless in more than half of those infected.4,5 Signs of acute disease have no typical presentation, but tend to manifest as a self-limiting debilitating febrile illness for 2—14 days, non-typical pneumonia, or hepatitis.3 It is estimated that less than 5% of those with acute Q fever will develop chronic disease, the most common presentation of which is endocarditis. C burnetii accounts for 35% of all cases of infective endocarditis after infection with slow-growing or fastidious bacterial species (3% of total endocarditis cases), especially in those with prosthetic valves, previous valve injury, or rheumatic heart disease.6 Other cases are associated with immuno-suppression through corticosteroid use, cancer, AIDS, or lymphoma.6Manifestation of chronic disease may be delayed for several years possibly requiring C burnetii reactivation from a persistent latent form.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20941513&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Invasive species, including pathogens, can have important effects
on local ecosystems, including indirect consequences on native
species. This study focuses on the effects of an invasive plant
pathogen on a vertebrate community and Ixodes pacificus, the
vector of the Lyme disease pathogen (Borrelia
burgdorferi) in California. Phytophthora ramorum, the causative
agent of sudden oak death, is a non-native pathogen killing trees
in California and Oregon. We conducted a multi-year study using a
gradient of SOD-caused disturbance to assess the impact on the
dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes) and the deer mouse
(Peromyscus maniculatus), two reservoir hosts of B. burgdorferi,
as well as the impact on the Columbian black-tailed deer
(Odocoileus hemionus
columbianus) and the western fence lizard (Sceloporus
occidentalis), both of which are important hosts for I. pacificus
but are not pathogen reservoirs.
Abundances of P. maniculatus and S. occidentalis were positively
correlated with greater SOD disturbance, whereas N. fuscipes
abundance was negatively correlated. We did not find a change in
space use by O. hemionus. 
Our data show
that SOD has a positive impact on the density of nymphal ticks,
which is expected to increase the risk of human exposure to Lyme
disease all else being equal. A positive correlation between SOD
disturbance and the density of nymphal ticks was expected given
increased abundances of two important hosts: deer mice and
western fence lizards. However, further research is needed to
integrate the direct effects of SOD on ticks, for example via
altered abiotic conditions with host-mediated indirect effects

Excerpt:

Abstract

Introduction: Bartonella henselae, the causative agent of the illness referred to as cat scratch disease, is a common infection, particularly in children, and clinicians need to be aware of its potential transmission to humans by arthropod vectors such as fleas and ticks in addition to animal bites and scratches. The absence of a vertebrate bite or scratch does not preclude infection with B. henselae.

Materials and Methods: Literature regarding arthropod transmission of B. henselae was reviewed.

Results: B. henselae appears to be transmitted among cats and dogs in vivo exclusively by arthropod vectors (excepting perinatal transmission), not by biting and scratching. In the absence of these vectors disease does not spread. On the other hand, disease can be spread to humans by bites and scratches, and it is highly likely that it is spread as well by arthropod vectors.

Discussion: Clinicians should be aware that a common illness, infection with B. henselae, can be transmitted by arthropod vectors and a history of an animal scratch or bite is not necessary for disease transmission.