How To Do A Lyme and Tickborne Disease Awareness Event

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month. Many areas of the US do not experience cold enough Winters for the ticks to die off. This year especially take the time to educate yourself and others about the dangers that lurk in our ticks.

Tick-Borne Diseases in California - It's Not Just Lyme and It's Not Just Deer Ticks!

Lyme Disease is currently the fastest growing bacterial infectious disease in the United States of America. Lyme is caused by a spiral shaped bacteria (spirochete) called Borrelia burgdorferi.  On the East Coast the primary vector for Lyme Disease is the Ioxdes Scapularis Tick with the primary reservoir  being the White Footed Mouse. On the West Coast the primary vector is the Ioxdes Pacificus Tick with the Gray Squirrel being the primary reservoir. (See Previous Post On North American Ticks)

Four Stages of Lyme Disease: Borrelia burgdorferi

Lyme Disease is a vector borne illness caused by Borrelia Burgdorferi(Bb) a spirochete which is passed on to humans primarily by infected ticks. There are 21 known species of Borrelia and 3 genotypes of B.burgdorferi.  Ticks are small arachnids and can carry numerous bacteria, viruses and protozoa such as Rickettsia, Bartonella, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Babesia. The tick has a two year life cycle, going from larva to nymph to adult, requiring blood at each stage. Many bites occur during the nymph phase. The typical nymph is about the size of a poppy seed.