rosespetal
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 571
posted
Hi everyone- Haven't been here in awhile, but just had to pop over to ask- I live in NJ, and found a lone star tick crawling on my floor- fairly small-
Is it me? or is that not as common for NJ as I thought???
No biggie if not- I have him in a baggie right now, alive- where do you send them to get tested for NJ, OR if I brought it to my doctor, who is an idiot- would they do anything w/ it??
TY for any help. Much appreciated. I think I really want to get this one tested, tired of finding them here n there in the house, and not knowing overall. IF I brought it to the health department, would they test it?? TY -Rose
posted
Hi Rose, Go to Igenex web site & send it to them for testing. You can call them too. I sent one last fall there. It came back with lyme.
Good luck with the ticks in the house. I have found ticks in my house already too. I guess I am going to have to use premise spray much to my shugrins. http://www.igenex.com/
Good luck. Vee
[This message has been edited by VEE VEE (edited 06 May 2004).]
rosespetal
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 571
posted
Thanks so much guys, I tried finding it on the site but haven't found tick testing yet- running out the door in a few to bring son to school and willcheck better on there when I get back.
The sad part is, the rashes I had last year, along w/ my + w/b, matched the lone star rash, (and some symptoms), but I was not tested for one of the things that a lone star can carry. PITA dr's lol, ya I know all the ins n outs w/ the controversies, but - what else does lone stars carry overall?
Are they also one of the ticks that carry some other strains of lyme that have no tests avilable yet for it? I recall something in regards to other bacteria found within ticks,that were either just FOUND as of last year, w/ no tests avail for it or similar. TY again. -Rose
TX Lyme Mom
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3162
posted
Rosepetal, It was announced just this last March, 2004 that researchers at Univ. of GA had finally isolated Borrelia lonestari in culture. That's the essential first step making it possible to develop accurate antibody-based lab tests for B. lonestari. What I mean by that is that now, at last, they will finally be able to figure out which antigens to include in the test.
A different strain of Babesia has been found in the lone star tick, the MO-1 strain, which was found in Missouri. So far, none of the commercial labs offer a diagnostic test for the MO-1 strain of Babesia yet.
Oddly, the MO-1 strain is more closely related to Babesia digergens, which is a bovine (cattle) strain. Similarly, Borrelia lonestari has also been described as a bovine strain. This strikes me as more than just an odd coincidence. I can't help but wonder if the *intraerythrocytic* parasite called Babesia might really be just another pleomorphism of Borrelia instead. (Definition: intraerythrocytic = inside RBCs)
These Southern (soft) ticks also carry a different strain of Ehrlichia, too, but I can't keep the strains of Ehrlichia straight in my mind (HME vs HGE). In other words, it's whichever strain of Ehrlichia which you do NOT usually find in the NE.
As for Bartonella, that's anybody's guess. Bartonella can be transmitted by cat and dog fleas, primarily, in addition be being transmittable by ticks.
There are probably many other yet unidentified pathogens carried by ticks also.
What you need is to import some fire ants up North. Fire ants would help cut down on the tick population dramatically. That's what's happened in some of the counties in SE Texas where the fire ants move in.
Either that, or keep a flock of guinea hens. They like to eat ticks.
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