Risk of Lyme disease in the eastern and south-central states could increase, now that researchers have found two more species of ticks that carry the disease, a university report says.
However, the scientists caution they have not determined if these tick species are capable of actually transmitting Lyme disease, a debilitating disease that begins with a rash and flulike symptoms.Researchers at St. Louis University said Tuesday they have identified the Borrelia burgdorferi organism, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, in two more species of ticks - the lone star tick and American dog tick.
More than 14,000 cases of Lyme disease have been reported in 43 states since 1980, with most cases occurring in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coastal states and Wisconsin, Minnesota, California and Oregon.
If diagnosed early, the disease can usually be treated with antibiotics. But without treatment, complications such as chronic arthritis, neurological damage and organ damage can occur.
The deer tick, found in the Northeast and Midwest, and the Western black-legged tick, found on the Pacific Coast, are members of the same genus, Ixodes, already proven to transmit the disease.
Some scientists suspect the lone star tick may be transmitting Lyme disease in the eastern and south-central United States, areas that earlier were thought to be the lowest risk areas for contracting the disease that causes an acute, recurrent inflammation of knees and other large joints and often is preceded by chills, fever and severe headache.