posted
The following very interesting text is from a US Army briefing dated May 2000.
Notice how parts of it sound much more like an ILADS report than a US government one.
Let's also bear in mind that while the Army was issuing this (unclassified) report, military Lyme experts in CDC and EIS were simultaneously telling the civilian public and the world, as well as many soldiers who got infected, that Lyme is an easily-cured disease that never goes chronic and neurological.
Emphasis in the text is mine.
-------- Militarily Important Vector-borne Diseases with Long Incubation Periods (>15 days) ... D. Lyme Disease. Lyme disease is also called Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne meningopolyneuritis, erythema chronicum migrans, Lyme arthritis, and Barnwart's syndrome. The causative agent is the spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.
Like syphilis, the clinical disease manifests itself in acute and ***chronic stages***. Initially there is a highly characteristic expanding skin lesion (erythema migrans) that develops in ***about 60% of cases***. Flu-like symptoms usually occur about the same time.
Weeks to months after initial infection, cardiac, neurological or arthritic symptoms and other joint abnormalities may occur and ***persist for years***.
***Treatment in the late stages of the disease can be difficult.*** Chronic Lyme disease can be very debilitating.***Early recognition and treatment are critical.
Military Impact and Historical Perspective. Lyme disease is an emerging infection of public health importance in many parts of the world. Since its recognition in Connecticut during the 1970s, Lyme disease has been reported from 48 states.
Since 1995, about 100 cases of Lyme disease have been reported in US Army personnel worldwide. The prevalence of Lyme borreliosis in North Africa is unclear, but it may be an emerging zoonotic disease.
Disease Distribution. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection of humans in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, including North America, Europe and northern Asia.
***Lyme-like syndromes have been reported from South America, Africa, tropical Asia and Australia, but their epidemiology has not been clarified. Clinical and serological evidence of Lyme disease in humans has been reported from the Canary Islands, Egypt and Tunisia. An immunoassay detected B. burgdorferi in 30.5 % of the adult Ixodes ricinus collected in Adman, situated in the Kroumiry mountains in northwestern Tunisia. ***
Further studies will be needed to identify vectors, animal hosts and the epidemiology of Lyme disease in North Africa. The future public health significance of Lyme disease in North Africa is uncertain, but it is unlikely to be as important as in temperate areas.
Transmission Cycle(s). All known primary vectors of Lyme disease are hard ticks of the genus Ixodes, subgenus Ixodes. Infective spirochetes are transmitted by tick bite.
Nymphal ticks usually transmit the disease to humans. In most cases, transmission of the pathogen probably does not occur until the tick has been attached for at least 24 hours, so early tick detection and removal can prevent infection.
Borrelia burgdorferi has been detected in mosquitoes, deer flies and horse flies in the northeastern United States and Europe, but the role of these insects in Lyme disease transmission appears to be minimal. Rodents, insectivores and other small mammals maintain spirochetes in their tissues and blood and infect larval ticks that feed on them.
Spirochetes are seldom passed transovarially by female ticks. Small mammals vary in their relative importance as reservoir hosts in different geographic regions. Field mice in the genera Apodemus and Clethrionomys are the chief reservoirs across Eurasia.
Vector Ecology Profiles. Ixodes ricinus is the principal vector of Lyme disease in Europe and around the Mediterranean Sea, although ***other Ixodes spp. are possible vectors.***
Ixodes ricinus is focally distributed in the Canary Islands, northern Algeria , Tunisia and Egypt.
***Rhipicephalus sanguineus is a suspected vector based on a study in Egypt.*** Rhipicephalus sanguineus was the only tick collected from domestic animals in the houses of four serologically positive cases treated at the El Shatby University Children's Hospital in Egypt.
The authors of a 1991 serological study in the Canary Islands suggested that Rhipicephalus turanicus may be the vector and goats may act as a reservoir. Ixodes ricinus prefers small rodents, hares, or birds, particularly in its larval and nymphal stages. 105
Yellow-necked mice, wood mice, and voles (Clethrionomys spp.) are favored hosts of larvae, while red fox, hedgehogs, and dogs may be hosts of nymphs. Feeding preferences of nymphal stages are less well known. Adults generally parasitize large mammals, such as deer, sheep, cattle, foxes, or man. Attachment to large mammals is often in the groin area, but may also occur on the back of the neck and in or between the ears.
Ticks quest on vegetation, passively awaiting potential hosts. Hard ticks remain attached to hosts for long periods of time, from 2 to 4 days for larvae and 6 to 11 days for nymphs and adults. This facilitates pathogen acquisition and transmission, as well as vector dispersal by migrating hosts.
Ixodes ricinus is a three-host tick. There is one larval instar and one nymphal instar, and each stage requires a bloodmeal in order for development to proceed. Mating occurs before feeding, or while the female is feeding on the host. Female ticks deposit up to 2,300 eggs after a bloodmeal and die after oviposition. This species primarily inhabits moist, dense, forest biotopes, where mice and voles are common.
Ixodes ricinus does not tolerate desiccation well and may die in a matter of weeks if relative humidity falls below 50%. However, in high humidity, adults can survive unfed for over two years.
Large herbivores, such as deer and sheep, are required hosts for adults. The life cycle typically takes 2 to 4 years. Eggs hatch in the spring and larvae feed and molt to nymphs.
Depending on the stage of development, ticks will overwinter as larvae or nymphs during the first 2 years and as adults in subsequent years. Diapause during the winter months is induced largely by short day length, although low temperature can also play a role.
Rhipicephalus sanguineus occurs throughout the entire region and is especially common in urban areas with high populations of dogs. The bionomics of the brown dog tick is discussed in greater detail in the section on boutonneuse fever. A complete list of North African tick species and their distributions appears in Appendix A.3.
Vector Surveillance and Suppression. There are several methods that can be used to determine the numbers and species of ticks in a given area. These include dragging a piece of flannel cloth over vegetation where ticks are waiting for a passing host and collecting the ticks that attach to the cloth, collecting ticks from animal hosts or their burrows/nests, attracting ticks to a trap using carbon dioxide (usually in the form of dry ice), and removing ticks from a person walking in a prescribed area.
Different species and life stages of ticks are collected disproportionately by the various methods, and techniques selected must be tailored to the species and life stage desired. These collection procedures are discussed thoroughly in TIM 26, Tick-borne Diseases: Vector Surveillance and Control.
Habitat modification can reduce tick abundance in limited areas. Mechanical removal of leaf litter, underbrush, and low-growing vegetation reduces the density of small mammal hosts and deprives ixodid ticks of the structural support they need to contact hosts. Leaf litter also provides microhabitats with environmental conditions suitable for survival, such as high relative humidity. Controlled burning, where environmentally acceptable, has been shown to reduce tick populations for 6 to 12 months.
106 Large-scale application of pesticides to control ticks is usually impractical and may be environmentally unacceptable at military installations during peacetime. Chemical treatment should be confined to intensely used areas with a high risk of tick-borne disease.
Liquid formulations of pesticides can be applied to vegetation at various heights to provide immediate reduction in tick populations. Granular formulations provide slower control and only affect ticks at ground level. Both formulations give approximately the same level of control when evaluated over a period of several weeks. Consult TIMs 24 and 26 for specific pesticide recommendations and application techniques.
Exclusion of deer and other large animals using electric or nonelectric fences has reduced populations of Ixodes ticks that require large animals to complete their life cycle. This technique would have limited applicability in most military situations.
The personal protective measures discussed in TIMs 26 and 36 are the best means of protecting individual soldiers from tick bites. Clothing impregnated with permethrin is particularly effective against crawling arthropods like ticks. Frequent body checks while operating in tick-infested habitat are essential. Tick attachment for several hours is required for transmission of many tick-borne pathogens, so early removal of ticks can prevent infection (Appendix F).
The FDA has approved LYMErix, a vaccine developed by SmithKline Beecham, for vaccination of people ages 15 to 70. ***The vaccine is only about 80% effective***, and it takes 3 shots over a full year to build optimal immunity. It protects only against North American strains of B. burgdorferi and is not effective against European genotypes of the spirochete. Therefore, vaccinated individuals must still use personal protective measures against ticks."
Source of above text:
Section "VI. Militarily Important Vector-borne Diseases with Long Incubation Periods", in "Regional Disease Vector Ecology Profile" - North Africa" published by Armed Forces Pest Management Board, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington DC.)May 2000.
As explained in the introduction to the briefing, documents in this series "summarize ***unclassified literature*** on medically important arthropods, vertebrates and plants that may adversely affect troops in specific countries or regions around the world".
Heaven only knows what the classified documents say. I would guess it is very different to what the IDSA Lyme commitee say - even more different than this text.
If you have the appropriate clearance, the document points you to where you can obtain more information. No suprise, it's here:
"Users may obtain current disease ii risk assessments, additional information on parasitic and infectious diseases, and other aspects of medical intelligence from the Armed Forces Medical Intelligence Center (AFMIC), Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21701, Tel: (301) 619-7574, DSN: 343-7574."
Happy New Year!
Elena Cook
-------------------- Justice will be ours. Posts: 786 | From UK | Registered: Oct 2007
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Thank you so much for taking the time to post this and provided the link!!!!
I will defintly keep this on file. My husband is in the Airforce and has Lyme and Babesia trasmitted by me. Many of the Dr.'s there believe that anyone infected needs to be seen by an I.D. Doc.!!!!!!
So we are currently trying to convince his Dr. on base that he needs an LLMD! I think this article will be very helpful as I will print it and take it to his apt.
Thanks again!
Janet
Posts: 351 | From Georgia | Registered: Feb 2008
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It's not so much that the info is outdated, some of the info there we know is false. But what intrigued me was how open and honest they were in the document about the persistence and the serious nature of Lyme disease. Also no attempt was made to cover up the reality of neurological disease.
Disturbedme -
I have also seen evidence saying EM rash can be as rare as 30% of cases. However, I still find this figure of 60% more honest than the 80% and 90% figures we get from the Steere camp. ILADS sometimes use a figure of 50%.
Janet - Good luck. Let us know what happened.
Elena
-------------------- Justice will be ours. Posts: 786 | From UK | Registered: Oct 2007
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
Ever head of "hidden in plain sight"? This way no one seems to be culpable when/if the truth does get out into the public about Lyme... I bet you had to do alot of digging to find this article.
I wish they published a protocol along with this info.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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Now to just spread the word and for our Govt to Admit !!!!!
Posts: 570 | From philadelphia, pa | Registered: Dec 2008
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sparkle7
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10397
posted
From what I have observed... there is going to continue to be disinformation or obscuring of the facts with this illness.
If a cure is found - it will probably be something that you have to take for the rest of your life so the drug companies will profit off of us as an ongoing basis. Those without insurance or who can't afford it will be the ones who suffer.
I'm sorry to be so negative but I've been ill for over 10 years... It's ruined my life but I'm surviving & doing the best I can.
There still are mixed opinions about who killed JFK & it's been over 40 years... Most people think Lyme is some natural pathogen that just happened to evolve even though there is lots of evidence to show a different reality.
Things could change very quickly if there was an effort to reveal the facts. It's kind of obvious to me that there's an agenda regarding Lyme.
Posts: 7772 | From Northeast, again... | Registered: Oct 2006
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quote:Originally posted by sparkle7: Things could change very quickly if there was an effort to reveal the facts. ...
Yes imo that is the key.
At the end of the day, the truth won't just come out by itself. We all have to work, to the best of our abilities, on finding out that truth and forcing it out in the daylight.
I dont know if they have a cure right which is being concealed, or not. However, even if it turned out that they don't have such a cure, the moment the cover-up comes down, the door is open for honest scientists to do honest research.
At the moment nearly all the research grants are going to big liars. And even when we raise money for our own, honest researchers, their findings are ignored or worse, still, our researchers are vilified and harassed.
The moment the coverup comes down, we will be in a strong position to demand an immediate, massive injection of funds into honest research for both treatment, and prevention of new cases.
Elena
-------------------- Justice will be ours. Posts: 786 | From UK | Registered: Oct 2007
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interesting especially reading down thru the complete table of contents of this 177 page package.
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Many of the Dr.'s there believe that anyone infected needs to be seen by an I.D. Doc.!!!!!!![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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