New tick-borne bacteria found in Shasta County [California]
Black-legged ticks are already notorious bad guys known for spreading Lyme disease. Now the nasty little creatures are making people sick by spreading a new and little-known bacteria similar to the germ that causes Lyme disease.
There have been no reports of north state residents being sickened by the tick’s bite, even though the Borrelia miyamotoi bacteria has been found in ticks living in Shasta County.
Stephen Morgan, a member of the Shasta Mosquito and Vector Control District board of trustees, said he was so alarmed by an article he read about the new tick germ that he brought it to the attention of the district’s staff.
Morgan said he showed the article, written by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, to district officials because he thought more people should know about the bacteria….
