Topic: Arkansas, Delaware, Virginia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina
Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Tag! You're it! You've got Lonestari.
The normal Lyme tests won't pick up this strain.. so if you test negative.. don't be surprised!
J Clin Microbiol. 2003 Dec ;41 (12):5557-62 14662940 [Cited: 2]
Evidence of Borrelia lonestari DNA in Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) removed from humans.
[My paper] Ellen Y Stromdahl , Phillip C Williamson , Thomas M Kollars , Sandra R Evans , Ryan K Barry , Mary A Vince , Nicole A Dobbs
We used a nested PCR with Borrelia flagellin gene (flaB) primers and DNA sequencing to determine if Borrelia lonestari was present in Amblyomma americanum ticks removed from military personnel and sent to the Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine.
In our preliminary investigation, we detected Borrelia sequences in 19 of 510 A. americanum adults and nymphs from Ft. A. P. Hill, Va.
During the 2001 tick season, the flaB primers were used to test all A. americanum samples as they were received, and 29 of 2,358 A. americanum samples tested individually or in small pools were positive.
PCRs with 2,146 A. americanum samples in 2002 yielded 26 more Borrelia-positive samples.
The positive ticks in 2001 and 2002 were from Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
The last positive sample of the 2001 season was a pool of larvae. To further investigate larval infection, we collected and tested questing A. americanum larvae from Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; 4 of 33 pools (40 larvae per pool) were positive.
Infection of unfed larvae provides evidence of the maintenance of B. lonestari by means of transovarial transmission. Sequence analysis revealed that the amplicons were identical to sequences of the B. lonestari flaB gene in GenBank.
Despite the low prevalence of infection, the risk of B. lonestari transmission may be magnified because A. americanum is often abundant and aggressive, and many tick bite victims receive multiple bites.
Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
I'll bet southern West Virginia has it, too, just looking at how it is sort of nestled between Kentucky and Virginia.
Thanks for the post, Tincup.
Tracy
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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......right before I moved from the eastern shore in Maryland I pulled a lonestar tick off my husband.
Had it tested and it came back neg. He seems fine, for the most part .
-------------------- Stella Marie Posts: 694 | From US | Registered: Apr 2005
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map1131
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posted
In June 99 my first recall of insect bites were 12 bites that I thought might be chiggers. But knowing what I know now, it's most likely nymph ticks. Negative 2 times with typical labs.
Igenex '02 positive IgM.
Second assult May '05, 4 nymphs on me and two on my husband. Typical labs again negative on both of us.
Thanks Tincup. I've suspected lone stari since our latest tick attack. The ticks were toooo small to see if the marking was on their backs.
I knew that Missouri had a big problem with this lyme like illness from the lone star tick. The tick attacks came from our lake home that was more Western Ky and I knew those ticks crossed the Missouri line.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6495 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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Truthfinder
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posted
Chiggers?!!?!!?
Whoah, wait just a minute here....
Somebody who knows about chiggers, please help me understand this!!
In May of 1980, I took a trip to Arkansas, went stomping around out in the toolies in my sneakers, and had all these tiny, itchy black things on my legs in the evening that itched like crazy. There were probably close to 100 of them on each leg. I called the local lady who had been with us and she thought they were probably chiggers.
I'd never heard of chiggers before. The bites drove me crazy for 2 weeks. The little black things stayed visible for about that long, then faded. But for 9 months, every time I took a shower, the little pink bites would become visible again and be itchy.
Crimony, could they have been ticks?
Tracy
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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map1131
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Member # 2022
posted
My bites were reddish brown. Far from black. When I became tick aware and pulled ticks off both of us in 05 they were reddish brown.
Maybe yours was some type biting mite? Lyme and vector borne illnesses happen with any blood sucker, not just ticks.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6495 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
quote:Originally posted by Truthfinder: Chiggers?!!?!!?
Whoah, wait just a minute here....
Somebody who knows about chiggers, please help me understand this!!
In May of 1980, I took a trip to Arkansas, went stomping around out in the toolies in my sneakers, and had all these tiny, itchy black things on my legs in the evening that itched like crazy. There were probably close to 100 of them on each leg. I called the local lady who had been with us and she thought they were probably chiggers.
I'd never heard of chiggers before. The bites drove me crazy for 2 weeks. The little black things stayed visible for about that long, then faded. But for 9 months, every time I took a shower, the little pink bites would become visible again and be itchy.
-------------------- Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Remember Iam not a Doctor Just someone struggling like you with Tick Borne Diseases.
posted
Yes Truthfinder, we in Arkansas, call them "seed ticks". They are barely visable, smaller then the head of a straight pin, slightly brownish. Not as big as a poppy seed. When you get them, it looks like a wad of dirt. Sometimes they move out from the center of the area hit, sometimes they stay in place and just bite. Chiggars you can't see unless you have a magnifying glass (X 10 magnification)or really good young eyes.
Posts: 157 | From Dallas, TX | Registered: Apr 2001
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STARI can be fatal, just like Lyme. I see them as strains of basically the same thing. It seems like the symptoms of STARI may not progress as fast as with the Lyme strain.
Posts: 159 | From Ecuador | Registered: Apr 2006
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STARI can be fatal, just like Lyme. I see them as strains of basically the same thing. It seems like the symptoms of STARI may not progress as fast as with the Lyme strain.
I agree. And I'm sure Stari is found in Texas. Otherwise they stole our name: Lone Star!
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
That's interesting. My LLMD said that in our state the Lone Star tick is the vector.
However, I had a positive band (Igm 23) on the Western Blot that doesn't test for Master's disease.
Is this possible, or do I have the Yankee Lyme thing going?
Just curious.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
Personally, I think we all have a mixture of WHATEVER.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
tree, great info of course from you; nasty looking bugger there!
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Truthfinder
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Member # 8512
posted
Thanks for info on chiggers - I'm sure now that I had chiggers, not ticks. What I saw were very tiny black specks, kind of like blackheads. I was not seeing the chiggers themselves, but something they leave behind. Not sure I want to know what that was really.
Tree, I did look at that link and I found exactly what happened to me. Of course, this person recommends removing the little ``deposits'' that chiggers leave, which would have been impossible to do with about 200 bites on me.
And one lady said she STILL has trouble with the bites getting red and itchy after a shower - even 2 years later! Only lasted 9 months for me.
Oh, here's that quote:
quote:You can physically see a little black dot that chiggers leave, if you remove the dot, (like a splinter using a small sewing needle), the itching stops. Disinfect area with anything as you would after removing a splinter. I have read that they don't burrow, they do leave this black splinter, look for it. Remove it, itching will be gone!
I don't think I've ever seen a study that checked chiggers for Bb. Wonder why? Seems like they've checked almost every other insect host that bites.
Do they think that chiggers just don't stay on you long enough or that they are too small?
Tracy
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
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Tincup
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 5829
posted
Tink a chigger's a trigger fer what ails ya?
Could be. Mites can carry Lyme.. and I seriously believe chiggers can too. I wanted to have some tested.. and had a lab willing to do it... as long as I ONLY sent them dead ones! HA!
But I couldn't find any volunteers stupid enough to purposely walk through the chigger patches round here to collect them for me.
posted
Does anyone have information about the varo mite or varroa destructor being a possible vector to humans?
This mite is apparently the cause of the honey bee hives disappearing. On another site, someone speculated about a connection between this mite and Morgellons.
The varo mite sucks haemolymph out of honey bees. Sometimes, the bees out of a hive will just disappear. The bees must go somewhere and take mites with them. For the mites to survive, it makes sense that they would feed off something in addition to bees.
The pesticide, fluvinate initially was effective to kill the parasite, but they quickly developed a resistance.
I'm wondering if there is any research about the varo mite being a possible vector to humans and what they might infect us with.
Posts: 159 | From Ecuador | Registered: Apr 2006
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posted
Chiggers are a very tiny red dot... They cause a small red itchy welt to rise up similar to a mosquito bite.
Us kids in Oklahoma had many bites. At bedtime we would lay on the bed with our clothes off and mother would pick chiggers and ticks off us and dab the bite with calamine lotion...
Mother had good vision. She used a sharp tooth pick to pry the chiggers out...
Chiggers like the crotch the best... Not easy to get for both boys and girls...
Sometimes daddy would do it using a cigarette to remove the big ticks. Five or ten was normal.
When the county starting spraying with DDT the tick and chigger problem got better.. The DDT ban was a very stupid move and was based on lies...
Chiggers love black berry bushes. When we picked black berries we would wash down with kerosene and put on old cloths with legs and wrists tied to keep them out. Worked pretty good.
Tj
Posts: 192 | From Phoenix, AZ | Registered: Apr 2005
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Melanie Reber
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 3707
posted
So, I'll assume Pennsylvania has it by now. I may have to research this STARI since both DDs were bitten in 2005 and 2006 when it is SURE to have been here in SE PA.
-------------------- Getting older is when we would rather not have a good time than have to get over it. - Oscar Wilde Posts: 386 | From Radnor, PA - where the ticks run free | Registered: May 2006
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