Expanding the Lyme Disease Epidemic: There's a long history of published evidence implicating lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum, as vectors of Lyme disease. Yesterday, GALDA posted Dr. Kerry Clark's new research paper which further associates lone star tick bites with human cases of Lyme disease - and not only with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, but two other Bb species never before reported in humans! (Note: Current tests are not designed to detect these species!)
Here's a map showing the known geographical range of the lone star tick. As you can see, they're found almost halfway across the USA. Even if only 1% of lone star ticks were capable of transmitting Lyme disease, it would still pose a tremendous threat to public health because these highly aggressive ticks bite humans so frequently.
Here's a map showing the known geographical range of the lone star tick. As you can see, they're found almost halfway across the USA. Even if only 1% of lone star ticks were capable of transmitting Lyme disease, it would still pose a tremendous threat to public health because these highly aggressive ticks bite humans so frequently.
