Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://bangordailynews.com/2012/05/...-tick-related-illnesses-on-the-rise-in-maine/
Lyme disease and other tick-related illnesses on the rise in Maine
By Jackie Farwell, BDN Staff
Posted May 30, 2012, at 12:42 p.m.
Last modified May 30, 2012, at 4:37 p.m.
...Maine is recording increasing numbers of illnesses transmitted by the bite of the eight-legged deer tick, including two lesser-known germs following in Lyme disease?s footsteps. Cases of anaplasmosis, which affects white blood cells, have spiked from nine in 2007 to 26 in 2011, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Sears. Already in 2012, 15 cases have been reported.
?Although those numbers are very small compared to Lyme, the fact that it?s increasing, and it seems to be increasing pretty significantly each year, suggests to me that we really all need to become aware of all these diseases,? Sears said.
Also on health officials? radar is babesiosis, a less common but potentially serious tick-borne disease in which microscopic parasites infect red blood cells...
Lyme disease and other tick-related illnesses on the rise in Maine
By Jackie Farwell, BDN Staff
Posted May 30, 2012, at 12:42 p.m.
Last modified May 30, 2012, at 4:37 p.m.
...Maine is recording increasing numbers of illnesses transmitted by the bite of the eight-legged deer tick, including two lesser-known germs following in Lyme disease?s footsteps. Cases of anaplasmosis, which affects white blood cells, have spiked from nine in 2007 to 26 in 2011, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Stephen Sears. Already in 2012, 15 cases have been reported.
?Although those numbers are very small compared to Lyme, the fact that it?s increasing, and it seems to be increasing pretty significantly each year, suggests to me that we really all need to become aware of all these diseases,? Sears said.
Also on health officials? radar is babesiosis, a less common but potentially serious tick-borne disease in which microscopic parasites infect red blood cells...