"Lyme Disease: When Symptoms Exist Insist on Treatment"

Kingdom:  Animalia

Phylum:  Arthropoda

Class:  Arachnida

Subclass:  Acari

Superorder:  Parasitiformes

Order:  Ixodida

Family:  Ixodidae

Genus:  Ixodes

Species:  scapularis

*Blacklegged Tick (Deer Tick)

 

Kingdom:  Prokaryotae
Phylum:  Spirochaetes  

Class: Spirochaetes                 

Order: Spirochaetales      

Genus:  Borrelia

Species:  burgdorferi

*Bacterium that infects Lyme disease


Lyme disease is very common in the Northern Hemisphere.  The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi is the cause of this sometimes fatal disease and is transmitted to humans usually by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick/deer tick; Scientists refer to it as Ixodes scapularis.  The United States had a major outbreak of this disease in 1975 in Lyme, Connecticut, which resulted in the disease being labeled Lyme. 

When bitten by a tick infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, it is typical to get a bull's eye like mark where one was bitten.  Other symptoms include:  fever, headache, fatigue, and a particular type of rash named erythema migrans. 

When a human host of Lyme disease does not treat the sickness infection may spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.  When one sees a physician the disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings, and on the probability of exposure to infected blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis).  In the later stages of Lyme disease laboratory testing is beneficial!  Most people infected with the disease can be treated successfully with only a few weeks of antibiotics, with little side affects of having the disease.

Humans can prevent the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which infects them with Lyme disease that is carried by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis).  For example, using insect repellent, removing ticks immediately when found, landscaping the environment their in, and integrated pest management. 

If this information does not motivate you to try and prevent Lyme disease it is important to note that the blacklegged tick that carries the bacterium for Lyme disease sometimes transmits other tick-borne diseases also! 

By,
Clint Harrison