It has been almost 50 years since a few doctors from Yale visited several children in Old Lyme, Conn. These children were, oddly, suffering with joint pain, only to coin a new illness called “Lyme arthritis.” It was officially named “Lyme disease” after a Swiss doctor, Willie Burgdorfer, saw the bacterium under his microscope.
The scientific name for Lyme disease became Borrelia burgdorferi, named after the doctor. It is crazy that an illness is named after a town. Perhaps more of the world would understand it if it were labeled “Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium."
It is caused by the bite of an infected tick. The tick saliva is filled with pathogens, not just the “Lyme” one. So, we could appropriately label it tick-borne diseases. One tick bite can cause multiple infections. It is a misnomer to call it just Lyme disease!
Many patients who are sick with other illnesses usually receive support, financially and emotionally. However, the plight of patients with tick-borne diseases in the 49 years of Lyme disease has not changed. This is an outrage. More people know about fibromyalgia, the first scientific study for it done in 1981. All it means is “muscle pain” in Latin. No one knows the cause. Yet 2-4% of the U.S. population is diagnosed with it. And it is covered by insurance and treated palliatively. That is, only the symptoms are treated — such as pain — because no one knows the root cause.
I was misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2004. I never accepted that diagnosis because it told me nothing. Why would I want to treat my symptoms without knowing that actual cause of my pain? I know my body better than anyone else! My intuition kept telling me that I had an infection because all of my symptoms related to something foreign attacking my body. My husband and I conducted our own research online and discovered that I must have had a tick-borne illness, as we had a history of being outdoors constantly — from gardening and lawn maintenance to skiing to hiking — on the east coast and west coast.
Without addressing the tick problem immediately, the pathogens injected into mammals from a tick bite will continue replicating, infecting all parts of the body. Infected tick saliva can be comprised of bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens. Scary stuff. Without proper treatment, symptoms can become extremely debilitating and can sometimes be fatal.
Your dogs can get it, and so can we! Ask your veterinarian. He or she can tell you all about it. “The disease can be hard to detect and can cause serious, ongoing problems in both dogs and people” (American Kennel Club Writers, Jan. 5, 2016).
Typical symptoms of Lyme disease in dogs include:
- Fever
- Loss of Appetite
- Reduced Energy
- Lameness (can be shifting, intermittent, and recurring)
- Generalized stiffness, discomfort, or pain
- Swelling of joints
Very important: Dogs recently bitten by an infected tick might not yet have a high enough level of antibodies present in their bloodstream to show up on the test. Also, dogs that have been infected for a long time might not have enough antibodies present to show a positive test result. So, there can be false negative test results for dogs who actually have Lyme disease. This can happen to people, too. In fact, the first standard blood test that is administered to detect antibodies in humans is so poor that it often comes back as a false negative.
The second type of test for dogs is a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, a specific DNA test that confirms the presence of the Lyme disease bacterium (B. burgdorferi).
Again, false-negative tests can occur because this particular bacterium hates oxygen — therefore hates the bloodstream filled with oxygen — so the bacteria usually reside in joints and not blood cells. What happens? Joint pain.
How is Lyme disease treated for dogs? With antibiotics, usually for several weeks. In some cases, infection will persist, and prolonged medication may be needed.
Dogs aren’t a direct source of infection for people. Lyme can’t be transmitted from one pet to another, nor from pets to humans, except through tick bites. However, a carrier tick could come into your house on your dog’s fur when he comes in from the yard or the woods and then find you. Please be persistent about checking your dogs after you’ve been outdoors. Hood River County is endemic for Lyme disease.
Oh, by the way, ticks use special sensors to detect the carbon dioxide that humans exhale. Believe it or not, ticks can smell the carbon dioxide from 33-98 feet away. They also sense body heat and lactic acid from sweat.
So, why is it that veterinarians can use antibiotics on dogs for prolonged periods, yet medical doctors are still beholden to the Infectious Disease Society of America’s guidelines that humans should not take antibiotics for Lyme disease for more than 28 days? The infectious disease doctors claim that humans can develop a resistance to antibiotics. Vets don’t think that way about dogs. Here’s the simple choice: Should I choose no antibiotic treatment and risk my dog’s debilitation or death or my own debilitation or death — or should I choose prolonged antibiotic treatment for my dog and/or me and hope to get my quality of life back?
Clearly you would choose prolonged use of antibiotics. Many people don’t realize that tuberculosis requires a long-term antibiotic treatment of at least six months.
How can you prevent your dog from getting Lyme or other tick-borne illnesses?
Go to:
For Oregon, scroll down to “Western Blacklegged Tick Heat Map (United States).”
Remember, it’s not just Lyme disease: One tick bite may cause multiple infections in animals and humans. Some are currently untreatable — and fatal.
TICKBORNE DISEASES OF THE UNITED STATES
The bacteria in Lyme disease is called “Borrelia burgdorferi”. There are approximately 200 strains of Borrelia in the U.S. Yet there are other nasty microbes in tick saliva, not just the Lyme disease one! There are also viruses and parasites. All animals, birds, and humans are delicious hosts for ticks.
- Anaplasmosis a parasitic disease that is transmitted by tick bites primarily from the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis in the northeastern and upper Midwestern U.S. and the blacklegged tick, Ixodes pacificus, in the West: vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/anaplasmosis-in-dogs
- Babesiosis is a parasitic disease that infects red blood cells: www.petmed.com/babesiosis
- Borrelia miyamotoi is a bacterial disease, a tick-borne relapsing fever transmitted by the blacklegged tick, both east and west U.S.
- Colorado tick fever is a viral disease transmitted by the Rocky Mountain wood tick. It occurs in the Rocky Mountain states at elevations of 4,000 to 10,500 feet.
- Erlichiosis is a parastic disease transmitted by the lone star tick, found primarily in southcentral and eastern U.S.
- Heartland virus infection has been identified in Missouri and Tennessee as of March 2014. Studies suggest that Lone Star ticks may transmit the virus. It is unknown if the virus may be found in other areas of the U.S.
- Lyme disease is a bacterial disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) transmitted by the blacklegged tick in the northeastern and upper Midwestern U.S. and the western blacklegged tick, Ixodes pacificus, in the West.
- Powassan disease is a viral disease transmitted by the blacklegged tick and the groundhog tick. Cases primarily from northeastern states and Great Lakes region.
- Rickettsia parkeri rickettsiosis is a bacterial disease transmitted to humans by the Gulf Coast tick.
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) is a bacterial disease transmitted by the American dog tick, Rocky Mountain wood tick, and the brown dog tick in the U.S. The brown dog tick and other tick species are associated with RMSF in Central and South America.
- STARI (Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness) is a bacterial-like illness transmitted via bites from the lone star tick, found in southeastern and eastern U.S.
- Tickborne Relapsing Fever (TBRF) is a bacterial disease transmitted to humans through the bite of infected soft ticks.
- Tularemia is a bacterial disease transmitted by humans by the dog tick, the wood tick, and the lone star tick. Tularemia occurs throughout the U.S.
364D rickettsiosis is a bacterial disease transmitted to humans by the Pacific Coast tick.
*Professor Holly Ahern MS, MT(ASCP), Associate Professor of Microbiology, SUNY/Adirondack
Excellent resources:
The Quiet Epidemic: www.thequietepidemic.com
Two years ago, The Quiet Epidemic had its film festival premiere followed by a year-long whirlwind festival tour and theatrical run. One year ago, the film premiered on Amazon Prime and AppleTV/iTunes.
Global Lyme Alliance: www.globallymealliance.org
With the support of Global Lyme Alliance ambassador Chris Meloni and artist Ally Hilfiger, The Quiet Epidemic delegation met with six Members of Congress and four congressional aides on April 15th and 16th. We discovered varying levels of awareness among members of the Lyme caucus, and they understood the relevance and urgency of our message: the currently available Lyme diagnostic is highly inaccurate, we lack a cure for all stages of the illness, ticks are carrying far more than Lyme disease, and the general public is largely unaware of this reality until they or someone they love becomes sick
Founded in 1989, LymeDisease.org seeks to make the patient voice stronger, to support patient-centered research, and to create a future where Lyme patients can receive the treatments they need to get well. It’s one of the oldest, largest, and most trusted sources of patient information on Lyme disease, drawing millions of unique website visitors a year.
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