Deer Ticks Carry Lyme Disease Germs

Deer Ticks Carry Lyme Disease Germs.
People who go outdoors in several regions of the United States may have something else to responsibility about. Scientists dispatch that there's another troublesome basis hiding in the deer tick that already harbors the Lyme disease bacterium. There are indications that the seed infects a few thousand Americans a year, potentially causing flu-like symptoms such as fever. In one newly reported case, a girl with existing medical problems appeared to have brain tumour and dementia caused by an infection.

It is not clear, however, how serious of a threat may be posed by the germ. For the moment, Lyme affliction appears to be much more prevalent. And four other germs that affect humans hide in deer ticks. Still, scientists say the germ is cause for concern.

And "This would not be commonly picked up by any of the accepted tests for Lyme disease," said Victor Berardi, co-author of one of two reports about the bug in the Jan 17, 2013 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The bacterium in problem is Borrelia miyamotoi and is found on deer ticks (also known as blacklegged ticks) in parts of the state where Lyme disease is prevalent.

In 2011, Russian researchers reported that individuals there were infected by the bacterium, and the new reports have found that it has infected people in the United States as well. "We've known about this bacterium for a large time - at least 10 years," said Sam Telford III, a professor of catching disease at Tufts University in Medford, Mass, who co-authored the disclose with Berardi.