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By
Will Collette
Even though winter just ended and most of our little tick friends should be fast asleep, you can bet that whenever the temperature goes above freezing, those little bastards will be looking for a chance to hitch a ride and suck your blood. Now there's yet another way these little buggers might repay your generosity.
Researchers have
found
yet another disease carried by Rhode Island’s Official State Pet, the deer
tick. The results of their study were recently published in the
New England Journal of Medicine. The new disease bacteria they found is Borrelia miyamotoi.
They
found the disease by checking blood samples from hundreds of New Englanders.
They found it in about 1% of the samples drawn from healthy people and 3% of
those from people who had Lyme Disease. The researchers estimate that the
disease will show up in one out of every seven people who get infected with
Lyme Disease.
The
bacteria causes an illness that presents a lot like flu – a fever and general
flu-like symptoms. But this is one that keeps coming back. The bacteria mutate
when attacked by our body’s natural defenses and disguises itself by changing
protein coats.
The
disguised bacteria grows again and the fever comes back. The researchers say
this cycle of re-infection can be repeated ten times or more.
You
can read a lot more detail about this
particular tick threat on URI’s Tick Encounter website. Progressive Charlestown
maintains a permanent link to Tick Encounter – there’s a button in the right
column of our front page, about half way down. This is a terrific website that
helps you identify ticks – if you want to give them pet names, you’re on your
own – and tells you what to do to prevent getting bitten or what to do if you
do get bitten by one of the little bastards.
For
fun reading, click here to read about
all the other disease besides Borrelia
miyamotoi that our little tick friends are eager to share with you.