[ad_1]
THURSDAY, July 12, 2018 (HealthDay News) – Do you live in a place that is free of tick-carrying diseases? Do not be so sure.
Scientists have found ticks capable of transmitting Lyme disease and other tick – borne diseases in dozens of places in the United States where pests have never been recorded previously, reports a new study. In all, ticks with disease were detected in 83 counties where they had never been found before in 24 states.
The numbers reflect an increase in tick populations across the country, said author Nate Nieto. "People should be aware of ticks and tick-borne diseases, even when they may think that there is no recorded incidence of a tick in a county", said Nieto. "These things, they do not obey the borders, they go by the biology, if they are moved there by a deer or a bird or people or pets, they go and establish themselves and to start growing up. "
said Wendy Adams, director of the research grant for the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, California.
All the life stages of the most commonly encountered ticks – the deer tick, the solitary star tick, the Gulf tick and the Rocky Mountain tick – carried the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, says Adams.
"This is important. He was born with infection, "says Adams.
These findings are the result of an unexpected effort by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation to collect tick samples across the country.
Bet In January 2016 and August 2017, the foundation and Northern Arizona University offered free identification and tick testing to the general public, and people were encouraged to send ticks that they found on their own, on their pets or in their community.
The initial goal of the scientists was to collect about 2,000 ticks, and they ended up with more than 16,000 people, sent by people from all Alaska (19659002) "We had such a phenomenal participation," Nieto said, "Two weeks in May, we received nearly 2,000 packets a week, which is just powerful data."
The researchers discovered ticks in areas not shown in the follow-up maps of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 19659002] Most of these new areas were right next to counties with known populations of ticks, Adams said.
"Ticks are spreading, tick populations have exploded," Adams said. "These are good data to show the magnitude of this phenomenon: it's a message to people that even if you think ticks are not a problem, they could be it." [19659002] The 24 states contain counties with tick populations where black-legged western ticks are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Missouri, Nevada, Carolina North, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin
In addition, ticks were found in states where they were just not supposed to be present. to be, said Adams. Solitary star ticks were found in California and blacklegged ticks were found in Nevada, both for the first time
Ticks carrying Babesia – microscopic parasites that infect red blood cells and cause the life-threatening babesiosis of the disease – in 26 counties in 10 states in which the public health department does not require that doctors report cases of the disease.
The new study "highlights the geographic variability of ticks and pathogens that they carry," said Dr. Paul Auwaerter, clinical director of infectious diseases at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore
"Surveillance is increasingly important because we are seeing climate and environmental changes, because we are seeing expanding tick beaches, and we have seen this with babesiosis, "said Auwaerter, president of the American Society of Infectious Diseases.
Adams agreed, suggesting that more funding should be directed to "
" We need to invest federal funds to examine the spread of ticks, "she said.
Meanwhile, the Bay Area Lyme Foundation suggests that people protect themselves from ticks.
- Wear light colored clothing to make ticks more visible.
- Perform regular tick checks after being in a tick-infested area, and take a shower immediately afterwards to remove ticks that crawl over you. use tick repellents such as DEET for skin and permethrin for clothes.
- Talk to your doctor if you develop symptoms after a tick bite.
The new study was published online on July 12th.
More information
The Centers for Disease Control of the United States have more on ticks.
SOURCES: Nate Nieto, Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Ariz .; Wendy Adams, Director of the Research Grant, Bay Area Lyme Foundation, Portola Valley, California; Paul Auwaerter, MD, Clinical Director, Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore; July 12, 2018, PLOS One online
[ad_2]Source link
