Lyme Disease Is An Issue

Lyme disease has emerged as the most common vector borne infectious disease in the United States and has presented a growing challenge to public health officials over the past three decades. The infection represents a significant disease burden to the population of the United States with nearly 30,000 new cases diagnosed per year and an estimated additional 270,000 annual incident cases that go unreported. The disease results from a bacterial infection with the spirochete bacteria B. burgdorferi. This bacterial agent is transmitted to humans from the bite of a tick and is most commonly associated Ixodes species blacklegged ticks. These ticks represent the largest genus of the family Ixodidae and mainly inhabit temperate forest or grassland

According to Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt (a world renowned Lyme expert), Lyme disease is considered the plague of the century due to the large number of people with chronic Lyme disease and the associated co-infections. The number one symptom of Lyme is chronic fatigue. People can have Lyme for a very long time and not be properly diagnosed because current laboratory testing comes up short with being able to detect it. One of the main reasons for this is because chronic Lyme does not live in the blood but rather in the tissues. It is an intracellular organism meaning it lives inside the cell. Lyme has different shapes: spirochete (like a spring), cyst with a hard shell, and acellular (without an outer cell membrane). Lyme likes to set up a sanctuary in the body such as in the brain, teeth (such as under a root canal or in a cavitation), vertebrae, breast tissue, and lymph nodes. It looks for a place where it can be protected and the body is vulnerable preferably in fatty tissue or under a biofilm. While traditionally Lyme disease is considered a tick-borne disease, recent findings have discovered that it is an insect-borne disease that can get transferred

First, Lyme disease is a tick borne illness, meaning it spreads through tick bites. The disease is only spread through a limited species of ticks, the utmost popular being the deer tick. Lyme disease can affect humans and dogs, as well as other animals. Although, only spread through a few species the disease is very harmful to one’s health. In 2009, it was found that “the C.D.C reported 38,000 cases, which is three times more than in 1991” (Specter 25). The process of the tick is rather simple and sudden. First, the ticks attach to their host and spread an antihistamine on the surface to numb the area to prevent the victim from feeling the bite. Thereafter they emit a glue resembling

Thesis Statement: “According to the Center of Disease Control, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector borne illness in the United States”(Lyme Disease: Data and statistics, 2016).

Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is an infectious disease caused by bacteria of the Borrelia type.[1] The most common sign of infection is an expanding area of redness, known as erythema migrans, that begins at the site of a tick bite about a week after it has occurred. The rash is typically neither itchy nor painful. About 25% of people do not develop a rash. Other early symptoms may include fever, headache, and feeling tired. If untreated, symptoms may include loss of the ability to move one or both sides of the face, joint pains, severe headaches with neck stiffness, or heart palpitations, among others. Months to years later, repeated episodes of joint pain and swelling may occur. Occasionally, people develop shooting pains or tingling in their arms and legs. Despite appropriate treatment, about 10 to 20% of people also develop joint pains, have memory problems, and feel tired much of the time.[2]

Where you live in the U.S. has a significant impact on your risk of getting Lyme disease. Most cases occur in the Northeastern U.S. or the Midwest. In fact, in 2105, 95 percent of confirmed Lyme disease cases in the U.S. occurred in just 14 states. If you live in one of the following states, you are at increased risk of exposure:

Lyme disease is a vector transmitted disease that is carried by two different types of ticks. The two types of ticks are the ixodes scapularis which is found predominantly in the eastern United States, and ixodes pacificus which is found along the west coast of the United States (Ogden, Lindsay, Morshed, Sockett, & Artsob, 2009). Taken the fact that boys from age 5 to 9 have the highest reported case of confirmed Lyme disease, an epidemiologist could verify this by cross referencing boys in the same age group, but in different geographical locations to ensure that eastern and western US are in fact the areas that are primarily affected by Lyme disease. Now that the people and the place have been identified, the last factor is

Lyme disease is the most widely recognized tick-borne disease in the United States and Europe (Beard, 2016). Since the ticks that transmit Lyme disease are frequently encountered in backyards and recreational areas, a high level of public awareness and education should be made available to the general public for areas that have a high level of Lyme disease. From 2005 to 2014, a sum of 251,061 cases of Lyme disease was accounted for in the United States. In 2014, Lyme disease was the fifth most common reportable illness in the United States. Recent studies have shown about roughly 300,000 individuals are determined to have Lyme disease in the United States every year (Beard, 2016).

2009, Institut National de Santé Publique du Quebec 2014), a phenomenon largely attributed to the to the range expansion of the Lyme disease vector, the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis (Say)) into the country (Ogden et al. 2008). The number of known and suspected established black-legged tick populations in Canada has increased substantially from one at Long Point, Ontario in the 1990s (Ogden et al. 2009), to the numerous populations now found across five Canadian provinces (Ogden et al. 2014). This rapid range expansion of black-legged tick has been credited to several factors, including climate change (Ogden et al. 2006) and shifting ranges of common black-legged tick hosts (Madhav et al.

Typically caused by the bite of a tick in a grassy area, or perhaps lurking in a pet's fur, Lyme Disease is very difficult to deal with and recover from.

This means avoiding ticks, the organism that is most responsible for spreading this disease to humans. Long sleeved clothing, wearing hats, and tucking pants into one’s socks are all common preventative measures. Another way to prevent the spread from tick to human, is to remove the tick as soon as it is found on the skin so that there is less time to actually transmit the disease. Aenishaenslin et al. claims that Lyme disease is very often an endemic species, and only two cases must be confirmed in a county in order for it to become an endemic county. Antibiotics are most commonly used in order to treat Lyme disease. However, the vigor with which drugs are used depends greatly on the stage of the disease that the patient has progressed to. Treatment may last several weeks; if symptoms persist, or return, another round of medication will be

Statistics obtained from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention show that there are approximately 300,000 cases of Lyme Disease reported in the United States annually (CDC, 2016). The above data categorizes Lyme Disease as the number one animal carried and vector-borne disease. Vector is a term used to describe a living organism able to carry and spread an infectious disease from either animal to human or human to human (WHO, 2016). Surprisingly, it was not until 1982 that the CDC placed Lyme as an official disease category. Even though the awareness of the Lyme disease increased throughout the years, many people are still unaware of the symptoms, transmission methods as well as the underlying cause of the disease

Lyme disease is found in places of high humidity and regions that have very low or high temperatures, where infected ticks thrive. Woody, grassy and bushy regions are areas that are commonly exposed to ticks, therefore are susceptible to Lyme disease. Ticks thrive in a warmer climate which is why Lyme disease is prevalent in places such as Australia, North America, Europe and

Lyme disease is vector borne disease that is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It is transmitted to humans by the nymphal stage of scapularis ticks (Levi et al, 2012). It is widespread in North America, and is often times discussed about in relation to deer population. While ticks use deer often as a reproductive host, this article discusses that deer are not the only factor that affect the prevalence of Lyme disease. Small mammals and predation play a major role in the emergence of this Lyme disease.

First off, the backstory behind Lyme’s Disease isn’t very much known to us. It’s suggested it was a disease that simply does not harm a tick, but is instead carried by it, such as the disease towards bats in Maquoketa Caves. Lyme’s