Borrelia burgdorferi

[Frankybme]

Borrelia burgdorferi is a spirochete which is the causative agent of Lyme disease, the most common tick-borne disease in the United States. The reservoirs for the spirochete are the white-footed mouse and the white-tailed deer. Transmission is accomplished by the bite of infected deer ticks. Contact with the tick usually occurs in areas of brush and tall grass.

Controversially, some in the medical community believe Borrelia bacterium infections can also occur like other blood borne illnesses, including congenital, transfusion, and sexual. While patients have Borrelia infection-like symptoms, they may be missing the characteristic erythema migrans, leading many mainstream doctors to resist diagnosing Lyme disease.

Common misdiagnoses include depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. Despite credible symptoms, after many blood samples do not grow the bacterium in a lab culture, some labs use unapproved and unverified assays with mixed results, and because the CDC continues to insist that tick bites are the cause, then mainstream medicine remains skeptical. Some believe that the cyst form can lay dormant for months or years, and is easily missed in typical blood tests, and why normal cultures fail.

New York state has the highest number of reported (confirmed) cases of Lyme disease in the United States. The disease is usually recognized by a distinctive skin lesion, erythema migrans, accompanied by headache, stiff neck, myalgias, arthralgias, fatigue and possible swelling of the lymph nodes. Not all symptoms are seen in every case, complicating diagnosis. While treatable with antibiotics, unrecognized and/or untreated patients may develop meningoencephalitis, myocarditis or even arthritis, particularly in the knees. Lyme disease may be brief or chronic, persistent and incapacitating. The chronic disease state may resolve in time with or without antibiotic treatment.

From the CDC:

Other Modes of Transmission

Person-to-Person
There is no evidence that Lyme disease is transmitted from person-to-person. For example, a person cannot get infected from touching, kissing or having sex with a person who has Lyme disease.

During Pregnancy & While Breastfeeding
Lyme disease acquired during pregnancy may lead to infection of the placenta and possible stillbirth, however, no negative effects on the fetus have been found when the mother receives appropriate antibiotic treatment. There are no reports of Lyme disease transmission from breast milk.

From Blood
Although no cases of Lyme disease have been linked to blood transfusion, scientists have found that the Lyme disease bacteria can live in blood that is stored for donation. As a precaution, the American Red Cross and the US Food and Drug Administration ask that persons with chronic illness due to Lyme disease do not donate blood. Lyme disease patients who have been treated with antibiotics and have recovered can donate blood beginning 12 months after the last dose of antibiotics was taken.

From Pets
Although dogs and cats can get Lyme disease, there is no evidence that they spread the disease directly to their owners. However, pets can bring infected ticks into your home or yard. Consider protecting your pet, and possibly yourself, through the use of tick control products for animals.

Other Transmission
You will not get Lyme disease from eating venison or squirrel meat, but in keeping with general food safety principles meat should always be cooked thoroughly. Note that hunting and dressing deer or squirrels may bring you into close contact with infected ticks.

There is no credible evidence that Lyme disease can be transmitted through air, food, water, or from the bites of mosquitoes, flies, fleas, or lice.


This scanning electron micrograph shows spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, causative agent of Lyme disease. While only 0.2-0.3 micrometers wide, the cell length may exceed 15 to 20 micrometers.

ty for the informative post

[jovie]

This is the dam sucker that has been harassing me off and on. I wish i knew how i got it in the first place. I probley got it when i went upstate for vaction, lots of bushes and grass. One of these dam ticks must have got me there. Sometimes the unknown is the worst of all symptoms.

[ladycolorado]

well, i do not believe ticks are the only cause. but if other insects were looked into as vectors of lyme disease, i bet the results would be surprising.in my case i belive it was headlice, which is controversial to some doctors. ticks are the main culprit, but has been said by some that other bloodsucking insects can be a vector too. sadly, it is not researched really at all.