Ticks : Multiple Pathogen Carriers

The black death was a disease that started from rats these rats would more likely coexist with ticks. A rat’s blood already contains the bacteria which began the black plague. The rat’s blood is too thick for the tick to swallow, consequently the tick would act as a transport onto another victim

A person can acquire Lyme disease by the bite of an infected tick. This disease is transmitted by deer ticks or black-legged ticks. Ticks are tiny in size and as their bite is painless, people might not even realize that they have been bitten. Once an infected tick attaches itself to the skin, it is able to transmit the bacteria. This bacteria eventually ends up in the bloodstream. The duration of attachment necessary to transfer

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

Yes. On a various type of surfaces Influenza, A and B can survive for 24-48 hours (Bean, Moore,

“RMSF is the most common fatal human tick-borne disease in the United States, with a minimal average of 351 confirmed human cases occurring annually and undoubtedly many more going unreported” (Niebylski et al.).

What is Lyme disease, and why is it important? Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease created by bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. “The infection is primarily transmitted by Ixodes ticks, also known as deer ticks, and on the West Coast, black-legged ticks” (Lymedisease.org). It’s hard to identify the ticks because of their tiny size, similar to a poppy seed. To make that exact the female adult deer tick is about 2.7 mm in length, and the male is smaller than that (tickencounter.org). The size makes it even more difficult to feel or find a bite from the tick. However, the consequences can be very serious, sometimes even fatal (cdc.gov). Lyme disease is a serious public health in the United States that is overlooked.

They contract it when feeding on infected hosts. While deer are most commonly known for giving Lyme disease to ticks, rodents are the main threat. “Ostfeld’s research indicates that white-footed mice infect 75-95 percent of larval ticks that feed on them, while deer only infect about one percent” (Mercola). Urban sprawl and hunting has eliminated many of the mice’s natural predators allowing populations to grow and infected ticks to spread.

POWASSAN VIRUS: POTENTIALLY FATAL TICK DISEASE THAT CAN BE TRANSMITTED IN MINUTES REPORTED IN MAINE

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

Ticks, they are most significant vectors of infectious diseases in the United States. These arachnids can host a scary medley of infectious bacterium, and they are increasing at an alarming rate with one CDC graph showing their numbers have almost tripled since 1995 (Lyme Stats). Some point to greater awareness, other point to climate change, while we don’t know exactly why their reach is growing we do know we have to be wary of the diseases they carry. While not all ticks are hosts, ticks carrying the Borrelia bacteria known for causing Lyme disease present a massive public health risk. Lyme is one most under researched Infectious diseases with the CDC estimating that somewhere between 300,000 and 3,000,000 people are infected annual.

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).

Unfortunately, people around the world struggle with deadly and rare diseases. From the outside looking in, these deadly and horrific diseases appear as something minor and easy to conquer. However, people everyday die from lack of resources and their inability to cope with the pain that these disease come with. The presentation Tick Tock discussed the horrific infection of lyme disease. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick on the west coast and on the east coast by ixodes ticks. The ticks infect the human with a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi. It is a corkscrew shaped bacterium. Ticks usually attach to the armpit, groin, or scalp. Lyme disease is found throughout the United States and sixty other countries. Most people get lyme disease from a tiny, immature form

As stated before, it is transmitted via a bite from an infected tick. There are two main species of ticks, Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged tick, and Ixodes pacificus, the western blacklegged tick. Ixodes scapularis is mainly found in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north central United States while Ixodes pacificus is found on the Pacific coast of the US (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013). The most common reservoirs of these ticks are the white tailed deer and the white footed mouse (Wadsworth Center, n.d.).

(CDC, 2015) Female ticks will die in the spring when her eggs burst from her body. These eggs will litter the forest floor and eventually hatch into 6 legged larvae in the summer. These larva then attach to much smaller mammals, such as field mice or small birds. Ticks spend as long as it takes, usually a few days at most, finding the perfect spot to latch on and begin feeding. The larva feed for a few days or until they are full and eventually drop off the host. With their appetite sated, larval ticks will now prepare for their next stage of life. This occurs over the course of the fall and winter time period as ticks burrow underground to retain warmth. They emerge in the spring, this time as 8 legged nymphs and the feeding cycle begins anew. This is also the period where lyme disease becomes an issue. While feeding on smaller animals, ticks contract the disease and they become carriers. They will transmit the disease as nymphs. Like the larvae, a nymph attaches to a larger mammal ranging from squirrels to human beings. Over the course of a few days, the nymph finds a spot to attach and feed. This happens over Spring and Summer. If they wait too long, the nymph will die of starvation. When sated once again, the nymph falls to the forest floor and prepares one more to proceed to the next stage of life. By Autumn, nymphs will have grown into adults. This is one of the more important stages simply because reproduction can now occur. Females will find a host in order to feed. Males find a host and a suitable mate. The male, once a mate is found, will fertilize as many females as it possibly can before dying. The females will continue to feed until they are full and eventually drop off. Once she is ready to lay eggs in the spring, her body will burst and the eggs distribute along the forest floor as the cycle begins

Diseases can also be transmitted by a mechanical or biological vector, an animal (typically an arthropod) that carries the disease from one host to another.