Fact- Dr. Kerry Clark, a well respected, highly regarded researcher in FL, found several Borrelia in ticks and patients in Florida and other parts of the south. (See list of his publications below.)
This article appears to be trying to discredit his discoveries, and will once again set us back in time while we are attempting to get patients help in the south.
It states…
"In Florida, there has been public attention directed towards the possibility of locally acquired Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative agent of Lyme disease, in association with the lone star tick.”
Ah ha! That is exactly what this article is trying to do!
Further research on my part shows the journal this article below was published in- Tick and Tick-borne Diseases- has an editorial and other boards, listing these people as Board members...
Wormser, Barbour, Fish, CDC Ft. Collins, Stanek, Steere and Telford. Shame on them, again and again!
Borrelia burgdorferi DNA absent, multiple Rickettsia spp. DNA present in ticks collected from a teaching forest in North Central Florida.
Sayler K1, Rowland J2, Boyce C3, Weeks E4. Author information 1College of Veterinary Medicine, 2015 SW 16th Avenue, Veterinary Academic Building, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA. 2Department of Entomology and Nematology, PO Box 110620, 1881 Natural Area Drive, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA; Emerging Pathogens Institute, 2055 Mowry Rd, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA. 3College of Veterinary Medicine, 2015 SW 16th Avenue, Veterinary Academic Building, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA; Department of Entomology and Nematology, PO Box 110620, 1881 Natural Area Drive, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA. 4Department of Entomology and Nematology, PO Box 110620, 1881 Natural Area Drive, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA.
Tick-borne diseases are an emerging public health threat in the United States. In Florida, there has been public attention directed towards the possibility of locally acquired Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative agent of Lyme disease, in association with the lone star tick.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of ticks and the pathogens they carry and potentially transmit, such as B. burgdorferi, in a highly utilized teaching and research forest in North Central Florida.
Ticks were collected by dragging and flagging methods over a four month period in early 2014, identified, and tested by PCR for multiple pathogens including Anaplasma, Borrelia, Rickettsia, and Ehrlichia species.
During the study period the following ticks were collected: 2506 (96.5%) Amblyomma americanum L., 64 (2.5%) Ixodes scapularis Say, 19 (0.7%) Dermacentor variabilis Say, and 5 (0.2%) Ixodes affinis Neuman.
Neither Borrelia spp. (0/846) nor Anaplasma spp. (0/69; Ixodes spp. only) were detected by PCR in any of the ticks tested.
However, Rickettsia DNA was present in 53.7% (86/160), 62.5% (40/64), 60.0% (3/5) and 31.6% (6/19) of A. americanum, I. scapularis, I. affinis and D. variabilis, respectively.
Furthermore, E. chaffeensis and E. ewingii DNA were detected in 1.3% and 4.4% of adult A. americanum specimens tested, respectively.
Although receiving an A. americanum bite is likely in wooded areas in North Central Florida due to the abundance of this tick, the risk of contracting a tick-borne pathogen in this specific area during the spring season appears to be low.
The potential for pathogen prevalence to be highly variable exists, even within a single geographical site and longitudinal studies are needed to assess how tick-borne pathogen prevalence is changing over time in North Central Florida.
What tick & vector borne diseases are in Florida? Here is my list...
Borrelia Strains in Florida
Borrelia americana Borrelia andersonii Borrelia bissettii Borrelia burgdorferi* Borrelia garinii Borrelia lonestari Borrelia turicatae Unnamed- (divergent strain clustered between Borrelia bissettii & Borrelia carolinensis) *Standard lab tests are only designed to detect exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi and those tests miss up to 75% of people who have the Borrelia burgdorferi strain of Lyme disease.