Doctors issue warning about new tick virus found in CT

[NutmegYankee]

CBS) -

Ticks in the area have been found to carry a rare, potentially life-threatening, virus, even worse than Lyme disease.

Doctors have warned that the “Powassan Virus” is a rare tick-borne illness and could be serious, and has no treatment or cure.

"The doctor just has to support you during that acute illness and hope that you survive,” said Dr. Daniel Cameron of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.

He said that if someone is bitten by an infected tick, they can get the virus within a matter of minutes.

http://www.wfsb.com/story/28764213/doctors-issue-warning-about-new-tick-virus-found-in-ct?autostart=true

I really really hate ticks.

[bluedigger]

1. F'n ticks.

[shenmue]

2. Me too

A tick bit me once. My parents rushed to get it off me. I was lucky, I didn't get sick.

[haikugal]

3. We have a lot of ticks here..

My ex and my dog have caught lime disease. I guess it's time to get some chickens and guinea hens to clear the area. Now I'm going to have to be even more serious about prevention. We're organic here and haven't used any chemicals for over 30 years, and it's been 20 years since I raised chickens but I've been wanting my own eggs.

Another tick born illness, damn!

Thanks for the information

[longship]

4. Ticks are f'en assholes.

We have a lot of deer in my very rural county, possibly more national forest here than farmland. So ticks are a problem. They were so bad one hot early summer that I kept finding one on my jeans after I merely walked out to my mailbox. After the third time I took action.

The local farm store provided a solution, albeit a poisonous one. But the ticks never showed up again. And thankfully they have not shown up again for years.

N.B., I understand that they are worse in high heat. (Not sure about that, but the local news seems to think that -- it's often called tick season here.)

[handmade34]

5. only made worse by climate change...

as an avid hiker this is an increasing concern for me... my daughter and I are working in Kansas and over the past 2 weeks, she has removed numerous ticks from her body... luckily not attached yet... I make a pretty strong homemade bug repellent but we have bought stronger stuff (really don't want to use it but will rather than not hiking )

http://www.cdc.gov/powassan/

http://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/bourbon/

A new study suggests that changing climate patterns may be altering the life cycles of blacklegged ticks in the northeastern United States, which could increase transmission among animals – and ultimately humans – of certain pathogens, including the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2012/09/07/disease-spreading-ticks-on-the-move-as-climate-changes/

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archives/2015/feb/climate-change-may-affect-tick-life-cycles-lyme-disease

http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/indicators/health-society/lyme.html

http://www.nrdc.org/health/climate/disease.asp

Hickling’s work is also in collaboration with scientist Jean Tsao of Michigan State University and is part of an EEID project to identify the ecological factors leading to distributions of tick species and pathogens–in particular, where the Lyme disease tick and pathogen are found.

Lyme-infected blacklegged ticks are expanding south through Virginia, and lone star ticks are moving north, the NSF said in its statement. “The bite of the lone star tick can create a bulls-eye rash that appears like that of Lyme disease, but the rash isn’t caused by the Lyme bacteria. The scientists say that this almost certainly leads to misdiagnosis of some patients in mid-Atlantic states, where both tick species are common.”