Attack of the Ticks: Lyme Disease

One of the more feared disease to outdoors men is one known as Lyme Disease. This disease can effected a person for years and disable an other wise healthy individual. Lyme disease has only recently come to light. In 1975 in the town of Lyme, Connecticut several apparent juvenile rheumatoid arthritis cases were linked together and found to be Lyme disease. This disease was at least suspected to exist for many hundreds of years prior to the proper description. This diseases is most often described as a inflammatory disease of the joints that also has headaches, fatigue, and the characteristic skin rash.

If left untreated the disease could progress to nervous system involvement and even circulatory system involvement. This is where the modern argument of a chronic form of the disease comes into play. For years many people have complained of several unexplained conditions after they have overcome the initial onset of Lyme disease. These occur in almost 5% of cases and can include polyneuropathy which covers loss of feeling, pain or pins and needle like sensations in the hands and feet, progressive encephalomyleitis (chronic inflammation of the brain lining) and could cause extreme fatigue, but remember this extremely rare.

Lyme disease is the most prevalent disease transmitted by ticks in the Northern Hemisphere. It is in fact caused by one of three bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi sesu lato is the most common North American vector while the most common in Europe include Borrelia afzelii and Borrelia garinii. The most common vector of this disease includes the genus of hard ticks called Ioxides and include Deer Ticks, Black Legged Ticks and the biggest vector the Lone Star Tick. What makes this disease so easy to transmit is that both the adults and the nymphal forms of these ticks can carry this disease. Many nymphal ticks are small and go unnoticed only being about the size of a sesame seeds and present in profuse numbers. This makes it especially easy for the nymphs to pass Lyme disease to its host.

Lyme disease has been known for centuries but part of the reason why it is only recently discovered is due to how North America was colonized. Early in the colonization effort the colonists were aware of this disease but did not have a name for it. But the occurrence of this disease steadily declined due to the clear cutting of New England forests reduced this disease to isolated pockets, with strongholds most likely in the less heavily colonized Midwest such as Michigan and Minnesota. Later on these stands of forest were allowed to grow over old farmland and thus Lyme disease began to spread again.

Works Cited

Lyme Disease

Wikipedia.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease#History

DVBID: Home Page

cdc.gov

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/Lyme/