New Disease Has Infected 100,000 New Yorkers

New tick-borne illness mimics Lyme disease; infected person develops similar symptoms

Borrelia miyamotoi, a new disease which mimics Lyme disease, and is spread by deer ticks has already infected 100,000 New Yorkers since the state first started keeping records, said a report.

The new disease could be even worse than the Lyme disease, experts say.

“Patients with this illness will develop, perhaps, fever, headache, flu-like symptoms, muscle pains — so they’ll have typical Lyme-like flu symptoms in the spring, summer, early fall,” said Dr. Brian Fallon of Columbia University. “But most of them will not develop the typical rash that you see with Lyme disease.”

“The problem is that the diagnosis is going to be missed, because doctors aren’t going to think about Borrelia miyamotoi because they don’t know about it. And number two, if they test for Lyme disease, it will test negative, and the rash won’t be there,” Fallon said. “So they are not going to treat with the antibiotics, so the patient will have an infection staying in their system longer than it should.

There is no test for the germ as yet, however, the same antibiotic that kills Lyme disease also works  against the new germ, provided that the right doses are administrated early in the infection.

Experts advise victims to watch out for sesame seed-sized ticks, especially during the summer months and conduct full body tick-checks after being outdoors.

 Borrelia miyamotoi

 

Rare tick-borne illnesses doubled in state last year

-oOo-

3 Million People Threatened by Trypanosomiasis in Guinea

DISASTER CALENDAR SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,227 Days Left 

[November 1, 2012] Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 1,227 Days Left to the ‘Worst Day’ in Human History
• Symbolic countdown to the ‘worst day’ in human history began on May 15, 2011 ...

.

Global Disasters/ Significant Events

More than 3 million people threatened by mosquito-borne  “sleeping sickness” in Guinea

The disease is endemic in some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated ¼ million people currently infected.

• There are two types of human trypanosomiasis:
  1. African trypanosomiasis, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly infected with T. brucei (sleeping sickness).
  2. American trypanosomiasis [also known as Chagas disease,] which is transmitted by the assassin bug infected with T. cruzi.

African Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)

• A recent epidemic in Uganda and Kenya killed at least 50,000 people in 2008.
• Some 36 sub-Saharan countries have reported the disease.
• At least 60 million people living in about 250 locations are at risk of contracting the disease.
• “T. b. gambiense infection (West African sleeping sickness) progresses more slowly. At first, there may be only mild symptoms. Infected persons may have intermittent fevers, headaches, muscle and joint aches, and malaise. Itching of the skin, swollen lymph nodes, and weight loss can occur. Usually, after 1-2 years, there is evidence of central nervous system involvement, with personality changes, daytime sleepiness with nighttime sleep disturbance, and progressive confusion. Other neurologic signs, such as partial paralysis or problems with balance or walking may occur, as well as hormonal imbalances. The course of untreated infection rarely lasts longer than 6-7 years and more often kills in about 3 years.” CDC said.
  

Trypanosoma forms in blood smear from patient with African trypanosomiasis. Source: CDC

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

• 2010 Disasters [Links to 2010 Disaster Calendar]
• Mega Disasters
• 2011 Disaster Calendar
• 2012 Disaster Calendar

GLOBAL WARNING

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity
• WARNING: RAPID DECLINE IN PROGRESS!