Lyme disease isn’t just Borrelia burgdorferi and Lone Star ticks do transmit Lyme disease study proves.
UNF Researchers Make Big Discovery About Lyme Disease
[CanLyme note: Lone star ticks will make their way into Canada and are much more aggressive than the black-legged (deer tick) species. We at CanLyme have also been stating for years that Lyme disease is a borreliosis, not only caused by Borrelia burgdorferi… the significance of this is that all research used to support the Infectious Disease Society of America guidelines including that which defines the symptoms, testing, treatment, etc. is all only based upon Borrelia burgdorferi strain B31, making their guidelines a very weak, unproven, poorly researched, harmful document that should never be used in healthcare]
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By Melissa Ross
It’s a groundbreaking medical finding on the UNF campus.
Dr. Kerry Clark, University of North Florida associate professor of public health, and his colleagues have found two species of Lyme disease bacteria previously unknown to infect humans in patients.
These two Lyme disease species, Borrelia americana and Borrelia andersonii, were found in symptomatic patients living in the Southeastern United States. The commonly found lone star tick, formerly believed by many to be incapable of transmitting Lyme disease, was implicated in some of these cases.
Hi,
Thanks so much for sharing about this significant study. I just want to share the citation for the research paper entitled “Lyme Borreliosis in Human Patients in Florida and Georgia, USA”
Clark KL, Leydet B, Hartman S. Lyme Borreliosis in Human Patients in Florida and Georgia, USA. Int J Med Sci 2013; 10(7):915-931. doi:10.7150/ijms.6273.
Available from
http://www.medsci.org/v10p0915.htm
“The aim of this study was to determine the cause of illness in several human patients residing in Florida and Georgia, USA, with suspected Lyme disease based upon EM-like skin lesions and/or symptoms consistent with early localized or late disseminated Lyme borreliosis.”
Hi,
On Tuesday night, April 28th, I found a tick on my scalp – 2 actuallly. One I yanked at and it hurt. My husband tossed it outside before checking to see what it was exactly or whether it was engorged. The other one came off easily and didn’t hurt. Last night, the 29th, another one was running along my arm! This one he did crush – it looked like the same ones as the other night. There is a red spot and it is tender where that first one came off the back of my head. I have been looking at pictures online and think it’s not a deer tick but is possibly a lone star tick. I live in St.Catharines, ON. We have a ravine behind us and we have been out in the woods with our cats for the past 2 days. I wore a hat yesterday, though! Both days, I had long pants and a long sleeved shirt on. I have just read on your site here that long star ticks might also carry Lyme disease. What should I do? We have the crushed tick from last night that didn’t bite me. Should I bring it in for identification? Should I be tested for Lyme? Can I be tested for Lyme? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hi Patricia,
You never left your contact info and hopefully you have already found the answers you were looking for. If not, please feel free to email me and I can assist you.
briannehenry [at] gmail [dot] com
We have many ticks in our area including deer ticks and lone star ticks. I have been successful in identifying the lone star tick (female adult) and have been bitten many times with only reaction as the intense itching sometimes caused by their bite.
My husband was bitten by a tick and we remove it. I identified it as a female adult lone star tick. It had the white dot very visible so identification was easy. That was on a saturday morning. By monday morning, he showed me a very large round red inflamed area around the tick bite (at least 4 inches diameter!). He thought for sure it was lyme, but I told him that the lone star doesnt cause lyme but it might be STARI. He went to his Dr immediately. I requested that he ask the Dr about STARI and hoped he would receive antibiotic treatment. Well, on Long Island, NY where we live, it seems the Drs are not really up on STARI. He somewhat brushed off my husbands question about STARI, and told him that the Lone star tick could cause Lyme Disease and he sent the tick our for testing (we had saved it). He is testing the tick for B. Burgdorferi. He also sent my husband for blood tests for Lyme Disease AB w/Reflex to WB IgG, IgM, and Sedimentation Rate-Westergren. I do not think that there is a test for STARI. I think the blood work and tick test will come back negative. What do you make of the treatment my husband received? He was prescribed an antibiotic, so I am somewhat comfortable that whatever the tests show, the antibiotic will treat for STARI, but I think the Dr missed the boat on this. Do you have comments or suggestions? Thank you!
I live in the same area and was bit also by a Lone Star. I’ve had very bad reactions and am on antibiotics now.