Hi, I've been hearing conflicting answers to this question and wanted to know if any of you have any information on this.
Thanks for you help!
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- Yes, "dog ticks" can carry lyme. It's absolutely a myth that only one (or even some) kinds carry. ANY vector that takes a blood meal from a host infected with lyme, other TBD, can carry and transfer that to the next blood meal.
And they don't have to be attached for long, either. With any puncture of the skin, spirochetes can spring forth and into the central nervous system / brain within 12 hours.
Just wanted to dispel that other common myth that a tick must be attached 24-48 hours. Not true.
The possibilities probably don't stop here, either: these are just those that have gotten caught and were found to be "carrying the evidence" so to speak.
4. How many species of ticks carry the Lyme disease spirochetes?
At least
nine species of ticks,
six species of mosquitoes,
13 species of mites,
15 species of flies,
two species of fleas,
and numerous wild and domestic animals (including rabbits, rodents, and birds) have been found to carry the spirochete that causes Lyme disease. -
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Yes. Any tick can.
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
You also need to remember that all ticks can carry multiple pathogens.
Dog ticks are especially known to carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and also I think some of the other rickettsial diseases.
Bea Seibert
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
. . . Losses of acuity in the human brain’s visual cortex have been observed as early as 6 hours following the toxic bite of an infected tick. . . . -
Posted by imagine2 (Member # 3136) on :
Thank you Keebler for the info and the links. Sooo many think that
the deer tick is the only one that transmits lyme. Really glad to have it in writing.
Thanks Lymetoo and Bea. Forgot about the RMSF related to dog ticks.
I knew you guys would know for sure!
Posted by Rumigirl (Member # 15091) on :
Yes, of course they all carry not only Lyme, but lots of other infections. Thank you, Keebler, for all of the links!
When I was last bitten in 2009, when I had just been on rocephin for 2 months, and just had started to improve, I was bitten by a Dog Tick. Except that when I called on the emergency line of my
doctor,since it was Memorial Day weekend, I was told that the American Dog tick was indistinguishable often from the Lone Star tick, due to the same white marking.
I went on doxy, too, for coverage with Ehrlichia, etc. But in spite of the doxy and rocephin, I had a horrible relapse. We then figured out that I had been re-infected with Babesia, as I wasn't on any meds for that, and the symptoms were totally Babesia.
The friends that we were visiting at the time said, "Oh, they're wood ticks (the same as Dog ticks); they don't carry Lyme." Of course, I knew better, but people believe what they want to believe.
And the Health Depts, counties, etc. are useless in terms of correct info.
Those friends still poo poo having to be concerned about Lyme, in spite of the fact that their dog has had it, there are tons of ticks, the husband has some symptoms. At the time, the wife
said that after taking the dog for a walk in a nearby park, she'd find ticks crawling all over her dashboard!!! I was horrified! But you can't make people take it seriously.
Posted by desertwind (Member # 25256) on :
Yes, one of the infections they carry is Tularemia. I tested positive for Tularemia.
I just got back from my LLMD and he confirmed that it is the Dog tick that carries Tularemia.
Posted by Keebler (Member # 12673) on :
- I bet other ticks can, too. It's just most likely that Tularemia is most seen in the climate and geographic regions as are certain kinds of ticks. But, likely, all kinds of ticks can carry it.
As bird migration patterns change, though, and even as other critters expand their habitat boundaries as temperatures and seasons change, I think the day is just about over where anyone can say any thing is just found "here" or "there".
Just yesterday, a case of tularemia was confirmed in central Illinois. I did not even think about cats as being a carrier of it:
. . . The local public health district issued warnings in 2011 and again in June 2013 about keeping cats indoors to reduce the chances of getting tularemia, because cats can prey on sick rabbits and rodents and become infected.
There have been cats in the Champaign-Urbana area diagnosed with tularemia in 2011, 2012 and 2013, according to the health district. . . . -
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
I got Lyme, babesia, and bartonella from a dog tick.
Posted by GretaM (Member # 40917) on :
A relative got tularemia AND lyme from a moose tick. (In BC)
Ticks are filthy filthy bugs and I wish we could eradicate them from the planet.
Honestly I rack my brain trying to think of how they help the ecosystem and I can never come up with a good reason why ticks should live.