...For our continued discussion on lyme disease, lyme disease month, ticks and movie from Osmosis on "What is Lyme Disease" - click/tap on read more.
Lyme disease was originally mistaken for juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The bacterium involved was first made note of in 1981 by Willy Burgdorfer. Chronic symptoms are well described and are known as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, although it is often called chronic Lyme disease. It is not believed to be true that lyme disease is the result of an on going infection. Research is ongoing to develop new vaccines, a previous vaccine is no longer available.
Lyme Disease: Don't Blame the Deer
"The last decades the disease Lyme borreliosis that is spread by ticks has been increasing, but this increase cannot be explained by the increasing deer population only, say researchers."
Results from the research project "TickDeer" shows that the percentage of ticks with Borrelia are decreasing in areas with a high deer, red deer and moose population. However, the total number of ticks is higher.
May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month
Activists throughout the United States use this month as an opportunity to raise funds for research. Organized walks, runs, other events, and present lyme disease documentaries on social media. These efforts aid in educating the public awareness, especially with local TV and radio are involved. To see what is scheduled in your area go to: Lyme Disease Events.
A Tick Not a Trick
Ticks are not insects but Arachnids, a class of Arthropods, which also includes mites, spiders and scorpions. They are divided into two groups – hard bodied and soft bodied – all are capable of transmitting diseases. Ticks don’t start out being infectious. Ticks get it by feeding on an compromised, injured, or dead small animals - often decaying rodents. Then, ticks bite the next animal or person and pass the infection along. Where the animals feed, such as wooded or grassy areas, generally there are an abundance of ticks. An adult tick “quests” for its next blood meal by climbing up grasses and bushes to wait for an animal to come by. Nymphs and larvae can be found in layers of decomposing leaves underneath trees. Ticks thrive in damp environments and are less active in hot, dry weather. For more information on which tick-borne diseases have been found in your area, check/tap here. site.
Sources:
Bay Area Foundation
National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases
American Lyme Disease Foundation
LymeDisease.Org
Harris Outdoors
University of Oslo
Nature Communications
DeerTick Project
Wikipedia
The Internet