Lyme disease is caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. They are transmitted mainly by Ixodes ricinus ticks. After a few hours of infestation, neutrophils massively infiltrate the bite site. They can kill Borrelia via phagocytosis, oxidative burst, and hydrolytic enzymes. However, factors in tick saliva promote propagation of the bacteria in the host even in the pr...

Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted to humans by bite of Ixodes scapularis ticks. The mechanisms by which the bacterium is transmitted from vector to host are poorly understood. In this study, we show that the F(ab)(2) fragments of BBE31, a B.burgdorferi outer-surface lipoprotein, interfere with the migration of the spirochete from tick gut into the hemolym...

Rickettsia africae is the agent of African tick-bite fever, a mild but common disease of local persons and tourists in Africa. The major vector of this spotted fever group rickettsia is most likely Amblyomma variegatum, the tropical bont tick, which has become widely distributed through the West Indies in the last 30 years. This report reviews all available information on R. africae in the West...

INTRODUCTION Ehrlichiosis is a bacterial zoonosis transmitted by hematophagous arthropods--ticks. In humans, it occurs as monocytic, granulocytic, and ewingii ehrlichiosis. Pathological process is based on parasitic presence of Ehrlichia organisms within peripheral blood cells--monocytes and granulocytes. CASE OUTLINE Fifty-two year old patient was admitted to hospital due to high fever of ov...

We present a simple model of the dynamics of heartwater that we use to explore and better understand various aspects of this disease. We adapted the Ross-Macdonald model for malaria epidemiology so that we could consider both host and vector populations, and evaluate the interactions between the two. We then use two more biologically detailed models to examine heartwater epidemiology. The first...

The number of tick bites received by individuals wearing either permethrin-treated or untreated summer clothing (T-shirt, shorts, socks, and sneakers) was compared during a controlled indoor study. Pathogen-free nymphal Ixodes scapularis Say were placed on the left shoe, right leg, and left arm of 15 (5/treatment group/d) human volunteers wearing untreated outfits or outfits treated with permet...

suspected. However, F. philomiragia DNA was found in 19% of a sample of dog ticks (Dermacentor reticulatus) in France (9). This finding suggests that D. reticulatus, which is now broadly distributed across Europe because of global warming and increased travel with pets, may have a role in the life cycle and transmission of F. philomiragia (10). The patient did not own a dog and did not recall h...

The duration of tick feeding is an important indicator to evaluate the risk of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato transmission, which increases considerably with the blood meal duration. This blood meal duration may be estimated from scutal index, the ratio between body length (idiosoma) and scutum width. For the estimation of blood meal duration in Ixodes ricinus, nymphal and adult female ticks w...

Summary Food allergies, especially delayed hypersensitivity reactions, are often challenging for both patients and clinicians. Here, we report the case of a 64-year-old man who had allergic reactions six hours after eating a meal containing red meat. He reported that he had several tick bites in months before the reaction. High serum specific IgE levels of alpha-gal confirmed the diagnosis of a...

Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, can transmit single or multiple infections during a tick bite. These tick-borne, zoonotic become chronic and cause insidious diseases in patients. In the present tick-pathogen study, 138 (48.9%) of 282 ticks collected from 17 sites 6 geographic area eastern Canada harbored various combinations Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Lyme disease), Anaplasma phagoc...