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closeThe risk is different time of the year
Posted by tmccall on 22 Mar 2017 at 12:48 GMT
Just read the particulars of the study. This just really indicates that the time of the year in the south for exposure ad risk is different. We are in Dallas Fort Worth area whereas 4 out of 5 ticks from our property tested positive for lyme disease and might add the ticks were not hiding under leaves. Please have a conversation with A&M and Dr. Clark from UNF. Complete accurate information is necessary to stop the spread of this disease and give the southern citizens a chance to eradicate this bacteria before it becomes a hard to eradicate infrection..
RE: The risk is different time of the year
hginsberg replied to tmccall on 05 Apr 2017 at 17:47 GMT
Thank you for your comment. It is certainly true that ticks infected with Lyme spirochetes can be found in the south, and southern immatures occasionally climb on top of the leaf litter, but far less often than in the north. The conditions we selected for these experiments were those at the times of year when this stage of the tick is most active, so that is when the ticks experience greatest exposure to conditions at the leaf litter surface, which we replicated in the lab. As you point out, the timing differs in the north than in the south, and that difference apparently contributes to differences in pathogen transmission. The phenomenon is complex and we are currently preparing results from our northern and southern sample sites about this effect. The current study looked specifically at reasons for the difference in host seeking behavior between northern and southern ticks. A walk through the woods in the north is a very different experience than in the south, in terms of encounter with immature blacklegged ticks, and this has been known for decades. In this study, we are trying to understand the reasons for this north-south difference in tick host seeking behavior.