Tag Archives: ticks

Establishment of a continuous in vitro culture of Babesia duncani in human erythrocytes reveals unusually high tolerance to recommended therapies. [ie Mepron not too effective?]

November 21st, 2018 Abstract Human babesiosis is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Babesia. Clinical cases caused by Babesia duncani have been associated with high parasite burden, severe pathology and death. In both mice and hamsters, the parasite causes uncontrolled fulminant infections, which ultimately lead to death. Resolving these infections requires knowledge of B. duncani biology, virulence, and susceptibility to  antiinfectives, but Continues →

‘Every season is tick season’: Experts warn of winter Lyme disease risk

People have ‘let their guard down’ and aren’t checking for ticks as weather cools, says zoologist   Laurenne Schiller loves taking her dog Cousteau for walks along Halifax trails as the weather cools. But even after the first dusting of snow this week, each walk finishes with a head-to-toe check for blacklegged ticks on her and her collie.   “”They’re Continues →

Epidemiology of Ehrlichiosis, Anaplasmosis [Can be coinfection with other tick borne disease(s) or stand alone infections]

Nov 26th, 2018 Ehrlichiosis “Ehrlichiosis is a disease caused by several Gram-negative obligate intracellular bacteria that are transmitted by a tick vector. The frequency of ehrlichiosis is increasing, which is ascribed to the increased awareness and diagnostic availability, as well as the expansion of regions populated with the most common tick vector – Amblyomma americanum (also known as the Lone Star tick).”  Continues →

OPINION: Lyme disease tunnel vision plagues provincial authorities

Nov 3rd, 2018 Chronicle Herald newspaper Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada by Jane Bailey. Re: “Nova Scotia’s health system has a handle on Lyme” (Sept. 18 opinion piece by Dr. Robert Strang). I was appalled at the inaccuracy and inadequacy of the information that he is supplying to Nova Scotians — patients and doctors — about Lyme disease. A 2012 Health Continues →

Canadian Lyme disease patient groups united in rejecting the ‘one research network only’ concept of the federal government

[CanLyme Note: There is already another pan-Canadian research network that has been up and running for over a year, the Canadian Lyme Consortium. This network works closely with the patient groups together with physicians and scientists and has from it’s formation.] Joint press release “Lyme patient groups from across Canada are unified in their concern over the federal Minister of Health’s Continues →

Lyme disease vastly under-detected in Canada, according to new study

Mount A biologist co-authors research that suggests only 3-4% of Lyme cases are officially diagnosed Friday October 20th, 2018 A new study published in the journal Healthcare suggests the vast majority of Canadians who have Lyme disease are slipping through the cracks. The research was done by Vett Lloyd, a Mount Allison University biology professor, and Dr. Ralph Hawkins, a Continues →

‘I don’t wish this on my worst enemy’: Caledon-area woman says Canada’s medical system is failing people living with Lyme disease

Oct. 2, 2018 Caledon Enterprise newspaper Janice Barry was at a vet office in Alliston with her dog when a poster caught her eye. It listed the symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs. It sounded familiar. For over a year, the former Caledon resident had been experiencing flu-like symptoms — daily nausea, weight loss, chronic fatigue, her hair was falling Continues →

One in three ticks in Canada’s capital, Ottawa, carries Lyme disease yet no help for the tens of thousands chronically ill across the country due to false information.

[CanLyme note: For decades Canadian health care leadership have downplayed the prevalence of Lyme disease (borreliosis) in ticks based upon poor surveillance protocol while ignoring reams of published research. They further downplayed the prevalence of this disease in humans with an outrageous, dangerous and deadly adherence to a testing policy that they knew missed most cases. Canadians must be fearful of Continues →

Ticks do not only transmit Lyme disease: After Tularemia Death, Experts Stress Education

[Learn more about tularemia ] Article… September 13, 2018 Julia Wells The Vineyard Gazette With tick-borne diseases a growing matter of public health concern on Martha’s Vineyard, education and prevention are more important than ever, the state’s leading expert in infectious diseases said in an interview this week. Dr. Catherine Brown, the state epidemiologist and senior scientist for the Massachusetts Department Continues →

Dog owners issued warning as deer ticks move into Calgary backyards

July 16th, 2018 Deer ticks no longer respect city limits. That was the word Monday from Dr. Wendy McLelland, a Calgary veterinarian, who delivered the advice that no matter how much of a city dweller you and your pet are, this may be the summer to engage in a pre-emptive strike against Lyme disease. Read full article

Bringing Lyme Disease Awareness to SK [Saskatchewan, Canada]

Thursday, 19 April 2018 05:00 WestCentralonline Saskatchewan, Canada by Kelsey Calder Jaime Cobler is raising awareness of Lyme Disease in Saskatchewan, after battling the disease for the past year. Cobler said she found a tick buried into her hip on June 10th, 2017, after working in near the Elrose and Eston area. A week after that, she started having blurred vision, Continues →

Combining public participatory surveillance and occupancy modelling to predict the distributional response of Ixodes scapularis to climate change

Volume 9, Issue 3, March 2018, Pages 695-706 David J Lieske, Vett K. Lloyd https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.01.018 Abstract Ixodes scapularis, a known vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (Bbss), is undergoing range expansion in many parts of Canada. The province of New Brunswick, which borders jurisdictions with established populations of I. scapularis, constitutes a range expansion zone for this species. To better understand the current and potential future distribution Continues →