Labroots, Carmen Leach, 04.01.24, reports on “A Better Way to ID Powassan Virus, an Emerging Tick-Borne Disease.” Leach reported that researchers developed a better PCR-based test that can detect and measure the level of virus for Powassan virus and Powassan virus lineage II (deer tick virus) in deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis). Researchers improved on current tests by providing the same ability to identify the virus with significantly more reliability than current tests in reducing the number of false negatives test results. This new PCR test utilizes a triplex method which amplifies the DNA o ..read more

The Journal of AABB Transfusion (Tonnetti, l., et al.) 03.16.24 published a case report, “A case of transfusion-transmission Anaplasma phagocytophilum from leukoreduced red blood cells.” Authors describe a case of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in a 64-year-old woman who was receiving weekly blood transfusions. The woman had gastric adenocarcinoma and multiple myeloma. A week after receiving a red blood cell transfusion, she presented with persistent fevers, hypotension, and shortness of breath. Suspected of a tick-borne infection, the woman was tested for malaria and babesia, however these blood ..read more

Simon Fraser University,  Jeff Hodson (04.11.24) reports, “Ant pheromones may help protect hikers and campers from ticks.” Researchers from Simon Fraser University found that ant pheromones used as a topical repellent, or as an environmental barrier, may protect people from tick bites. The study showed that specific pheromones from ants, even when ants were removed from the area, caused ticks to avoid the surfaces where ants had been.  The team’s decision to investigate ants was based on a paper published in Royal Society Open Science (2024). This paper evaluated predators that blac ..read more

University of Virginia News, Sam Caneda (04.10.24) reported, “She Aided the Team Taking the Bite Out of Tick-Borne Lyme Disease.” Toriana “Tori” Vigil, a University of Virginia (UVA) chemical engineering Ph.D. student was the advisor to US Air Force Academy students who won a gold medal for the idea of the “Lyme-AID” biosensor patch at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (IGEM) competition in Paris in 2023.  Lyme-AID is a technology to improve Lyme disease testing. The Lyme-AID bandage is applied directly to the tick bite. This bandage is filled with a pink-colored solution ..read more

News8 reporter, Vanessa Blasi (04.02.2024) published, “Study: Lyme-disease-carrying ticks found hiding in Connecticut stone walls.” Blasi reports findings of the study conducted by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station which looked at habitat factors connected with increased numbers of blacklegged ticks on  42 properties in Guilford, Connecticut. Researchers determined that grassy areas in proximity to stone walls had almost three times the number of ticks as areas without this habitat feature. It is believed that stone walls provide a more permanent habitat feature for ticks ..read more

Ohio’s Country Journal writer, Tim McDermott (Ohio State University Extension Educator) 03.31.254 published, “Asian longhorned ticks and Theileria in 2024.” McDermott warns of the increase of medically important tick species in Ohio and the growing risk to humans, companion animals, and livestock from transmission of pathogens. Just 20 years ago, Ohio was home to only one species of medically important tick, and by 2024 that number has grown to 5.  The invasive Asian longhorned tick, first discovered in Ohio in 2020, transmits Theileria orientalis (a protozoa that infects red and whit ..read more

ACS Infectious Diseases (Vydyam, P., et al.) 04.02.2024, published, “Effectiveness of Two New Endochin-like Quinolones, ELQ-596 and ELQ-650, in Experimental Mouse Models of Human Babesiosis.” In this study, researchers found that Endochin-like quinolones (ELQs), a class of small molecule antimicrobials, are effective against a wide range of protozoan parasites that affect humans. ELQs target the mitochondrial electron transport chain of these parasites by inhibiting the cytochrome bc1 complexes effective against Plasmodium and Babesia. ELQ-596 and ELQ-650, two second-generation ..read more

 The post Grant/NJ/Human Sweat/Fewer Ticks/Lyme Pill/Babesia odocoilei/Gestational/MO/Early Tick Season/Alpha-gal/Dysautonomia/Child Lyme Vaccine/Powassan/Hygromycin A/Program Funding/Pacific Coast Tick/Sleep appeared first on Lyme Disease Association ..read more

Louisiana State University announced (03.25.2024) that they have received the largest National Science Foundation Partnership for Innovation (NSF PFI) grant ever awarded to LSU, $550,000. With this grant, LSU Chemical Engineering (ChE) Professor Kerry Dooley, LSU (ChE) Department Chair and Professor Mike Benton, and LSU Department of Biological Sciences (Biol. Sci.) Professor Roger Laine will continue their work on nootkatone. Nootkatone is an FDA-approved repellent to ticks and insects, an organic compound found in grapefruit skin and Alaska yellow cedar trees that has already been shown to ..read more

There are many versions of what happened out there on the net about the meeting held March 7 and 8 at the CDC Atlanta. Here is a detailed version from my perspective of that meeting including the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC) actual role in the meeting. HISTORY: LDA has always been concerned about the new vaccine in FDA trials, but when Pfizer/Valneva might have had the Lyme vaccine ready to roll out in 2025, LDA questioned some entities about getting answers to the questions from the manufacturer about what happened with LYMERix®. No answers were received. I contacted ..read more