The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an information update, dated Jan. 11, 2013, concerning Lyme Disease. [Lyme Disease bacterium is also known as Borrelia Burgdorferi and is spread through bites by the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis).]
It has been known that a deer tick needs 10 minutes to two hours to latch onto the host’s skin, cut through it, and insert its feeding tube. However considerably more time is required for the disease-causing bacteria to travel from the tick to the host.
According to the new CDC update, in the majority of cases a deer tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more before Lyme Disease bacterium can be transmitted. Other and earlier reports had indicated that this time is about 24 hours.
The deer tick (also called the "blacklegged" tick) has been responsible for the spread of Lyme Disease in the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Lyme Disease was named after Lyme, Connecticut where it was first encountered in 1975.
The deer tick has eight legs, a lifecycle of about two years and can feed on mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. It does not fly or jump. It sucks blood from an infected host and transmits the infection to its next host.
The types of deer ticks that carry Lyme Disease are:
- Nymphs (a major threat) which are small and difficult to spot and feed during the spring and summer
- Adult ticks which are active during cooler months and are much easier to notice because of their larger size
The CDC update reported that Lyme Disease cannot be transmitted by eating venison but hunters need to be aware because hunting and dressing deer can result in contact with infected ticks. It pointed out that “there is no credible evidence that Lyme Disease can be transmitted through air, food, water, or from the bites of mosquitoes, flies, fleas or lice.”
It also stated, “Although dogs and cats can get Lyme Disease, there is no evidence that they spread the disease directly to their owners. However, pets can bring infected ticks into your home or yard. Consider protecting your pet, and possibly yourself, through the use of tick control products for animals.”
In addition to tick control products, tick removal products intended for fast, easy and safe removal of ticks from dogs have recently entered the marketplace. Called Tick-SR, they are available from its producer or on the Internet at amazon.com.
The CDC is a federal agency reporting to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bacterial Diseases Branch, Foothills Campus, Fort Collins, CO 80521, 1-800232-4646.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA, 1-800-CDC-INFO (1-800-232-4636). www.cdc.gov/lyme
Tick-SR, Karykion Corporation, 101 Wall St., Princeton, NJ, 1-800-720-2950, sales@tick-sr.com, 1-800-720-2950, www.tick-sr.com
"If you had giant rats, that were infecting a couple hundred of your citizens every year, eating your lawns, running in front of your cars and destroying the underbrush of your woods and ultimately destroying your woods as a result. Ah, I think this issue probably would have been addressed a long time ago." "We're going to do this no matter what." Hastings Mayor Swiderski on deer and his claim that the village of Hastings was going to employ the net & bolt slaughter of deer no matter what. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ultoN8FaoM The very same "Mayor" who now proclaims the pursuit of immoncontraception, "a very Hastings thing to do."
1) The CDC is ASSUMING the bacteria are DEEP in the tick's GUT. This is a FAULTY ASSUMPTION! Bacteria has been found in the tick's MOUTH PARTS! 2) The CDC is ASSUMING that LYME DISEASE is the pathogen being transmitted. When we talk about "Lyme Disease", it's FOOLISH AT BEST to assume that Lyme is the ONLY pathogen that the tick is harboring. It's HIGHLY LIKELY that the tick has MANY Pathogens: Babesia, Ehrlichriosis, Tuleremia, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, STARI, etc EACH of THESE PATHOGENS has it's OWN typical TRANSMISSION TIME! Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can be transmitted in as little as 6 hours. SOME pathogens can be transmitted in LESS THAN TWO HOURS of attachment! *** EVERY SINGLE CO-INFECTION CAN BE FATAL*** *** (According to the CDC)!!! *** 3) IF the tick is disturbed during feeding, it may detach and then re-attach (or re-attach to a different host). In these cases, researchers have found that Lyme (borrellia Burgdorfi) can be transmitted IN AS LITTLE AS 8 hrs! See "Accelerated Transmission of Lyme Disease Spirochetes by Partially Fed Vacctor Ticks" Dept of Tropical Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA Chien-Ming Shih, and Andrew Spielman: May 1993
And, as for the tick needing 10 minutes to 2 hours after finding its host to bite, that's ridiculous. I've seen a tick land on skin, attach and bite in less than a minute. The CDC, NIH and IDSA are NOT at all lyme literate. Do not trust your life to what they say about lyme. Also remember that ticks carry far more than just lyme. For the truth about lyme, go to ILADS.org and also lymedisease.org - just put the www. in front of each.