Middlebury Assistant Professor David Allen prepares to inspect a piece of canvas dragged through the forest to collect ticks.
Todd Balfour/Middlebury College
Scientists know the bacterium that causes Lyme disease has been out in the wild since long before any biological weapons research could have focused on it. And that’s just for starters.
Lyme disease: beware what bites you this summer.
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Tick-borne diseases are becoming more common in the United States. A public health entomologist outlines some of the lesser-known threats ticks pose to human health.
A smokey haze from wildfires burning in the region blankets Vancouver, B.C.
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The way humans share the world with wildlife has rapidly changed – and this is having a serious impact on the spread of pathogens.
If you are bitten by a tick that is infected with Lyme disease, a single dose of antibiotics can prevent an infection from developing, if administered within 72 hours of tick removal.
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If you are bitten by a tick, you need to find out what species it was, fast. A research team has developed a website to help people in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick do just that.
A female blacklegged deer tick crawls along a piece of straw.
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Ticks are generally inactive in the winter and start to look for their next meal as temperatures warm up. But as winters warm, every season may become tick season.
Expansion of the blacklegged and other tick populations across Canada over the last few years mean an increased risk of diseases like Lyme disease. It is wise to do a full body tick check on ourselves and our pets when we come in from the outdoors.
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In Australia, only three infectious diseases are known to be transmitted from ticks to humans: Queensland tick typhus; Flinders Island Spotted Fever; and Q fever.
Ixodus ricinus tick, which spreads Lyme disease in Europe.
Richard Bartz
The debate about Lyme disease and its presence in Australia has occupied media headlines and the minds of scientists and health professionals for over three decades.
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is carried by ticks.
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A government investigation into whether Lyme disease exists in Australia and how to treat it has ended without being able to resolve the issues. But there is a plausible explanation for why people here…