- Hello Jeff - Looks like the medical establishment listens
to the Rense Program.
-
- We discussed this years ago on your program and clearly
put forth the idea that birds were spreading the disease in addition to
mammals like deer.
-
- Patty
-
- Lyme Disease Takes Wing On Its Spread Inland
- By Robert Miller
- 12-28-9
-
- When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along,
it may be throwing off ticks infected with Lyme disease. You may be just
walking in your yard when a tick hops on you and bites.
-
- Robins, blue jays, thrushes, wrens, and other common
birds can be Yale of the disease, according to researchers at the Yale
University School of Public Health in New Haven.
-
- That may help explain the spread of Lyme disease north
from the Connecticut coast to the state's interior, as well as to other
states in New England.
-
- It's further proof -- if more is needed -- that blame
for spreading Lyme disease can't be pigeon-holed to 1 or 2 species.
-
- "Robins are capable of transmitting the disease,"
said Robert Brinkerhoff, a post-doctoral student at the School of Public
Health and lead author of a paper on the bird/Lyme connection published
in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
-
- "It makes total sense," Maggie Shaw of the
Newtown Tick-Borne Disease Task Force said Monday [28 Dec 2009]. "Birds,
coyotes, deer, bear may all carry Lyme disease."
-
- However, Shaw said she believes one species -- white-tailed
deer -- is most responsible for the perpetuation of Lyme disease. "It's
because of the numbers of ticks they carry," Shaw said of deer, which
can each carry dozens of ticks at a time.
-
- Black-legged ticks are the insects [Ticks belong to the
class Arachnida, not Insecta] most responsible for spreading the bacteria
that causes Lyme disease. In their 3 stages of life -- larval, nymphal,
and adult -- these ticks must have a blood meal.
-
- It's long been known that white-footed mice are the ubiquitous
reservoirs of the Lyme bacteria in nature. When newly hatched ticks feed
on mice, the ticks become infected with the bacteria. When the ticks then
bite humans for another feeding, the humans are infected.
-
- Deer are especially available for the 3rd blood meal
that ticks must have in the fall to survive and breed.
-
- But Brinkerhoff of Yale said deer don't spread Lyme disease
to ticks, and neither deer nor white-footed mice are long-distance travelers.
-
- The researchers at Yale, looking at records and research
done in the past, found at least 70 common species of birds that can carry
the bacteria, Brinkerhoff said.
-
- Therefore, he said, the Yale research suggests that birds
can carry the ticks -- especially larval ticks -- with them as they fly.
If the bird is infected with the Lyme bacteria, the bird's blood can spread
the bacteria to the ticks.
-
- Kirby Stafford, an entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural
Experiment Station in New Haven, said the station did some of the 1st Lyme/bird
research several years ago. He said when songbirds migrate north, they're
more likely to pick up tiny larval and nymphal ticks, carrying them along
for a ride. "Certain birds are reservoirs," he said. "Certain
birds aren't."
-
- Shaw said along with research on how Lyme disease spreads,
she'd like the state Department of Public Health to spend money to teach
people how to avoid tick-borne infection. "There is no statewide program
in place for disease prevention," she said. "To me, that's incredible."
-
- http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Lyme-disease-takes-wing-on-its-spread-inland-301668.php
-
-
- Communicated by ProMED-mail Rapporteur Mary Marshall
-
- The abstract for the paper is available at: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/090062?prevSearch=&searchHistoryKey=
- Mod.LM
-
- Lyme disease is spread by more than birds. Our society
is a very mobile society and one that travels with its pets. Pets are not
the only ones capable of transporting the disease as well as its vector,
the tick. Ticks will happily hitch a ride on any warm blooded host, including
human beings.
-
- Furthermore Lyme has been widespread in the United States
for several decades. Lyme Disease has been documented in nearly every country
in the world. While the disease was only officially named in 1987, it has
been around, the symptoms recognized for hundreds of years prior to the
naming of the disease.
-
- Lyme disease, or borreliosis, is an emerging infectious
disease caused by at least 3 species of bacteria belonging to the genus
_Borrelia_. _Borrelia burgdorferi_ Sensu Lato (2) is the main cause of
Lyme disease in the United States, whereas _Borrelia afzelii_ and _Borrelia
garinii_ cause most European cases. The disease is named after the village
of Lyme, Connecticut, where a number of cases were identified in 1975.
Although Allen Steere realized in 1978 that Lyme disease was a tick-borne
disease, the cause of the disease remained a mystery until 1982, when _B.
burgdorferi_ was identified by Willy Burgdorfer.
-
- Lyme disease is classified as a zoonosis, as it is transmitted
to humans from a natural reservoir among rodents by ticks that feed on
both sets of hosts (3). Hard-bodied ticks of the genus _Ixodes_ are the
main vectors of Lyme disease (1). Most infections are caused by ticks in
the nymphal stage, as they are very small and may feed for long periods
of time undetected (3). Larval ticks are very rarely infected (4). Tick
bites often go unnoticed because of the small size of the tick in its nymphal
stage, as well as tick secretions that prevent the host from feeling any
itch or pain from the bite. However, transmission is quite rare, with only
about 1 percent of recognized tick bites resulting in Lyme disease; this
may be due to the fact that an infected tick must be attached for at least
a day for transmission to occur (5).
-
- In Europe the vector is _Ixodes ricinus_, which is also
called the sheep tick or castor bean tick (6). In China _Ixodes persulcatus_
(the taiga tick) is probably the most important vector (7). In North America,
the black-legged tick or deer tick _(Ixodes scapularis_) is the main vector
on the east coast (4). The lone star tick (_Amblyomma americanum_), which
is found throughout the Southeastern United States as far west as Texas,
is unlikely to transmit the Lyme disease spirochete _Borrelia burgdorferi_
(8), though it may be implicated in a related syndrome called southern
tick-associated rash illness, which resembles a mild form of Lyme disease
(9). On the West Coast of the United States, the main vector is the western
black-legged tick (_Ixodes pacificus_) (10). The tendency of this tick
species to feed predominantly on host species such as lizards that are
resistant to Borrelia infection appears to diminish transmission of Lyme
disease in the West (11, 12).
-
- While Lyme spirochetes have been found in insects as
well as ticks (13) reports of actual infectious transmission appear to
be rare (14) Lyme spirochetes have been found in semen (15) and breast
milk (16), however transmission of the spirochete by these routes is not
known to occur (17). Congenital transmission of Lyme disease can occur
from an infected mother to fetus through the placenta during pregnancy.
The risk for fetal harm is much higher in the 1st 3 months of pregnancy
than later. Prompt antibiotic treatment almost always prevents fetal harm.
Pregnant Lyme-disease patients cannot be treated with the 1st-choice antibiotic,
doxycycline as it is potentially harmful for the fetus. Instead, erythromycin
is usually given; it is less effective against the disease but harmless
for the fetus (18).
-
- References
-
- 1. Ryan KJ, Ray CG (editors): Sherris Medical Microbiology
(4th ed.) (2004). McGraw Hill. pp. 434-7. ISBN 0838585299.
-
- 2. Hu MD, Linden: Clinical Manifestations of Lyme Disease
in Adults". UpToDate (2009) available at http://www.uptodate.com/patients/content/topic.do?topicKey=~9197/aelfkcit3.
-
- 3. Tilly K, Rosa PA, Stewart PE: Biology of infection
with _Borrelia burgdorferi_. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2008 June; 22(2):
217-34 available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/pmc/articles/PMC2440571/.
-
- 4. Lo Re V, Occi JL, MacGregor RR: Identifying the vector
of Lyme disease". Am Fam Physician. 2004 Apr 15; 69(8): 1935-7 available
at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15117014.
-
- 5. Steere AC (July 2001): Lyme disease. N Engl J Med
345(2): 115-25. doi:10.1056/NEJM200107123450207.
-
- 6. de Mik EL, van Pelt W, Docters-van Leeuwen BD, et
al: The geographical distribution of tick bites and erythema migrans in
general practice in The Netherlands. Int J Epidemiol. 1997 Apr; 26(2):
451-7 available at http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/26/2/451.
-
- 7. Sun Y, Xu R: Ability of _Ixodes persulcatus_, _Haemaphysalis
concinna_, and _Dermacentor silvarum_ ticks to acquire and transstadially
transmit _Borrelia garinii_. Exp Appl Acarol. 2003; 31(1-2): 151-60 available
at
-
- http://www.springerlink.com/content/m8j5198762301206/fulltext.pdf.
-
- 8. Ledin KE, Zeidner NS, Ribeiro JM, et al: Borreliacidal
activity of saliva of the tick _Amblyomma americanum_. Med Vet Entomol.
2005 Mar; 19(1): 90-5 abstract available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15752182.
-
- 9. Masters EJ, Grigery CN, Masters RW: STARI, or Masters
disease: Lone Star tick-vectored Lyme-like illness. Infect Dis Clin North
Am. 2008 Jun; 22(2): 361-76, vi abstract available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18452807.
-
- 10. Clark K: _Borrelia_ species in host-seeking ticks
and small mammals in northern Florida. J Clin Microbiol. 2004 Nov; 42(11):
5076-8. Available at http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/reprint/42/11/5076.pdf.
-
- 11. Eisen L, Eisen RJ, Lane RS: The roles of birds, lizards,
and rodents as hosts for the western black-legged tick _Ixodes pacificus_.
J Vector Ecol. 2004 Dec; 29(2): 295-308 abstract available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15709249.
-
- 12. Lane RS, Mun J, Eisen L, Eisen RJ: Refractoriness
of the western fence lizard (_Sceloporus occidentalis_) to the Lyme disease
group spirochete _Borrelia bissettii_. J Parasitol. 2006 Aug; 92(4): 691-6
abstract available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16995383.
-
- 13. Magnarelli L, Anderson J: Ticks and biting insects
infected with the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, _Borrelia burgdorferi_.
J Clin Microbiol. 1988 Aug; 26(8): 1482-6. Available at http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=266646&blobtype=pdf
-
- 14. Luger S: Lyme disease transmitted by a biting fly.
N Engl J Med. 1990 Jun 14; 322(24): 1752. Available at http://cassia.org/library/N_Engl_J_Med_1990_Jun_14,322(24),1752.htm
-
- 15. Bach G: Recovery of Lyme spirochetes by PCR in semen
samples of previously diagnosed Lyme disease patients. 14th International
Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease 2001. Available at http://www.anapsid.org/lyme/bach.html.
-
- 16. Schmidt B, Aberer E, Stockenhuber C, et al: Detection
of _Borrelia burgdorferi_ DNA by polymerase chain reaction in the urine
and breast milk of patients with Lyme borreliosis. Diagn Microbiol Infect
Dis. 1995 Mar; 21(3): 121-8 abstract available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7648832
-
- 17. Steere AC (2003-02-01): Lyme Disease: Questions and
Answers (PDF). Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School.
Archived from the original on 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2009-04-01. 18. Walsh
CA, Mayer EW, Baxi LV: Lyme disease in pregnancy: case report and review
of the literature. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2007 Jan; 62(1): 41-50 abstract
available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17176487
-
- Portions of this comment have been extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease
-
- The references have been renumbered. - Mod.TG
-
-
-
- Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural
Economics Univ of West Indies Please visit my "Emerging Diseases"
message board at: http://www.emergingdisease.org/phpbb/index.php Also
my new website: http://drpdoyle.tripod.com/ Zhan le Devlesa tai
sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
|
