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Lyme Disease Tick InformationLyme Disease InfoLyme disease is caused by a bacterium which is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. In North-America these blacklegged ticks have been found and identified as the main factor to the spread of the disease, especially on the east coast. It is known that in order for the spirochete to be attached, the tick must remain attached to the host for a minimum of 12 hours, however the longer the tick is attached, the higher the risk of the disease being transmitted. The deer tick (ixodes dammini) is known as being the culprit in most of the cases of Lyme disease in the United States, especially in the northeastern parts. Deer ticks are most often found in grassy locations and woodland, shrubby, and brushy areas, especially in summer, but even on warmer days of winter. These ticks tend to seek areas where there is some moisture, and can feed on different warm blooded animals including humans, cats, dogs, horses, and cows. Perhaps the most problematic issue of all is that the bite of the tick is so painless that often times one will not even realize they have been bitten at all. In approximately half the cases of Lyme disease symptoms in humans, a rash or some form of scratch will appear, which usually begins anywhere from a few days to weeks following and infected tick's bite. These rashes or lesions (erythema migrans) can last anywhere from a few days to more than a month, and can either be felt as entirely painless, itchy or as painful and hot to the touch. The rash itself generally looks like a red ring that expands and looks like a bull's eye with alternating light and dark circles. It has usually been described that almost the same time as this rash develops, so do symptoms that are similar to flu such as headache, fever, chills, sore throat, muscle aches, stiff neck, general malaise and fatigue. While some people develop both the rash and these symptoms of flu, some may only develop or notice one or the other. Lyme disease can also be transmitted to the developing fetus during pregnancy if the mother is infected. It was also found that Lyme disease can possibly be transmitted by a biting fly and a mosquito. A man's semen and a woman's breast milk may also be habitats of Lyme spirochetes, although there was no solid proof yet of these kinds of transmission. Filed under: Lyme Disease Tick Information |
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