Arthropod-borne Diseases #2
Ticks, Fleas, Triatominae or True Bugs, Flies, Mites
Tick-borne
Roll your socks over your pants legs in these areas (actually anytime you trek out into the woods).
Tick-borne pathogens are transmitted through the bite of an infected tick. These include Alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Babesiosis, Powassan (POW), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Tularemia. Ticks can be infected with bacteria, viruses, or parasites. (click on the links for each.) https://health.ri.gov/diseases/ticks/?parm=45
https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/index.html#prin
A deeper look at a few of these:
AGS (Alpha-gal Syndrome)
The number of cases has been increasing for the past decade or so. It has even garnered a MMWR warning to health care professionals this year and is potentially dangerous. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7230a2.htm
Babesiosis
It looks like malaria, smells like malaria, but isn't malaria. Meet Malaria’s sibling, an apicomplexan parasite of erythrocytes (red blood cells). Life cycle?
Lyme Disease
Like the other vectors and diseases, cases are on the rise. Sadly, there is no vaccines currently available for humans. We do, however, have three for dogs: LymeVax, Galaxy Lyme and Canine Recombinant Lyme. Where’s the human one? Turned out we had one back in the late 1990’s. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/07/the-case-of-the-missing-lyme-vaccine/ Also, an mRNA is being developed. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2023/september/penn-medicine-develops-mrna-vaccine-against-lyme-disease
A word about PTLDS (Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome): there is no current treatment. https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/postlds/index.html
Flea-borne
This section reminds me of The Flea by John Donne. It was my high school English teacher’s favorite. She thought it was romantic; me, the biologist, not so much.
So, let’s start with the life cycle of the Plague. Many diseases have shaped the course of human history, none more familiar and more impactful than those caused by Yersinia pestis. https://www.britannica.com/question/What-are-other-names-for-the-Black-Death
Bubonic Plague, Black Plague, Black Death, Great Mortality, Great Pestilence and other names given to Bubonic Pandemic that have struck several times over the centuries.
Fleas and flea-borne diseases A deep but interesting read.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971210000299
“'Tis the Season of Flea-Borne Typhus— Animal lovers take heed”
“Pop quiz question #1: How many clinicians can name their region's leading rickettsial threat and its arthropod vector?”
Found in the U.S.
https://www.cdc.gov/fleas/diseases.html
Take care of your pets!
Triatomines
Better known as the kissing bug and another vector of Chagas disease. https://www.healthline.com/health/kissing-bug-bite#chagas-disease
Mites-borne
About Mites: https://academic.oup.com/view-large/28984103
Chiggers: https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/prevent-treat-chigger-bites
Also, Demodex mites may be linked to Rosacea. https://www.rosacea.org/patients/causes-of-rosacea/demodex-mites-and-microbes
Fly-borne
Tsetse fly
the bearer of African trypanosomiasis (African Sleeping Sickness), not to be confused with "sleeping sickness," "African trypanosomiasis, " sleepy sickness" or Encephalitis lethargica. (https://www.historicmysteries.com/sleeping-sickness/)
Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is caused by a microscopic protozoan of the genus Trypanosoma.
There are two forms of HAT:
Trypanosoma brucei gambiense, found in 24 countries of west and central Africa, currently accounts for 92% of reported cases and causes a chronic illness. A person can be infected for months or even years without major signs or symptoms. When evident symptoms emerge, often the disease is advanced, with the central nervous system already affected.
Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, found in 13 countries of eastern and southern Africa, accounts for 8% of reported cases and causes an acute disease. The first signs and symptoms emerge a few weeks or months after the infection. The disease develops rapidly with a multi-organ invasion, including the brain.
American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease, occurs mainly in Latin America. It is caused by a different Trypanosoma subgenus, transmitted by another vector. (WHO) https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/trypanosomiasis-human-african-(sleeping-sickness)
Simulium black fly
Transmitting Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) to humans and other hosts.
Microfilaria is an early stage in the life cycle of certain parasitic nematodes in the family Onchocercidae. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/onchocerciasis
Musca domestica (house fly) and relatives
What can you say about something that hang out around decaying and fecal material? According to Penn State Extension: “House flies are strongly suspected of transmitting at least 65 diseases to humans, including typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, poliomyelitis, yaws, anthrax, tularemia, leprosy, and tuberculosis. Flies regurgitate and excrete wherever they come to rest and thereby mechanically transmit disease organisms.” https://extension.psu.edu/house-flies
Climate Change and Vector-borne Diseases
Climate Change and Vector-borne Diseases NEJM review article (a series on climate change) https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra2200092
Climate change: an enduring challenge for vector-borne disease prevention and control https://www.nature.com/articles/s41590-020-0648-y
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases (DVBD)
A useful resource: https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dvbd/a-z-index.html
Traveling International?
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/yellowbook-home
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/diseases
Protect yourself and animals.
Given the dearth of vaccines and specific treatment available, take the time to protect yourself from Vector-borne diseases. Don’t let the bedbugs bite! Care for your pets too, see your vet!
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/protect-bug-bites-summer/story?id=54878266
This subject can fill volumes and not limited to this and the previous post, I just need to stop scratching for a while now....
Comments are welcome and feedback is important!