I got nothin' today...Wait! I have vector-borne diseases

No science news today. I'm certain that stuff that's actual science, not the application of science, which is technology was reported on today. I could probably really fudge another post(as I did last night), but I would much rather post less, and offer either more information than even that reported by "science news" sites. I was involved all day with applied botany. Lifting and toting many bags of softwood mulch and digging holes in mother terra can be quite tiring in ninety degree(F) weather with relatively high levels of relative humidity.

I also applied mulch, watered many plants, and did other planty things.

We also feed thirty-two(so far) identied species of avian life, and I did time aiding all those hundreds of individual birds by building and putting up a stagimg perch where the birds can hang whilst waiting a turn at the wild bird feeders.

Other yard/garden work was performed as well. I am something of a non-expert on Platycodon grandiflorus cultivars, and while not a plant completist, one that is as engaged as I am in gardening should learn as much as possible about their favorite plants. Balloonflower(Platycodon grandiflorus) is my area of study. I am also engaged in building up wildlife habitats on my little part of the world, and have been pretty successful in habitat restoration efforts.

I now count as garden/woodland regulars more amphibians and reptiles than I encountered as a youth in a more 'wild' setting.

Well, that does bring up a science related topic of concern: tick-borne pathogens.

7 April was World Health day, and this year's focus was on vector-borne diseases. I do not believe that one thinks of New Hampshire USA as a hotbed of vector-borne pathogens. Even twenty years ago this wasn't a real concern. The times have certainly changed.

The medical community was really behind the curve in NH. While we have the highest per capita incidence of Lyme, the medical community even five years ago did not generally recognize the risk. In the past five years the standard treatment for tick bites has gone from a wait-and-see if Lyme develops, to the now standard for ANY tick bite of a three day course of doxycycline(as long as doxycycline is not contraindicated), to the standard twenty-one day course if Lyme has been confirmed. I found AN article, which while only a year old, is no longer truly current.

Other rick-borne pathogens in New Hampshire:

But Lyme disease is not always the correct diagnosis.

"A lot of people are aware of Lyme, but they're not as aware of Babesiosis, Bartonellosis and Ehrlichiosis," Giard said. "Those have a devastating effect on people, and we're really concerned. So it's very important that when people go to get tested that they ask to be tested for all those tick-borne diseases, which are at epidemic levels."

Babesiosis is a human disease related to malaria parasites. It is associated with voles, chipmunks, mice and shrews. The white-footed mouse is the primary reservoir host. The Blacklegged tick is the main vector. Most human cases occur during summer.

Symptoms range from mild to life-threatening, including fever, fatigue, chills, sweats, headache, and more. Severe symptoms are more likely in people who are immunosuppressed, have had their spleen removed, and/or are elderly. Onset of symptoms is one to six weeks after the tick bite.

"When we test in our office, we're testing Lyme as well as those other organisms to determine if someone has been infected by a tick-borne bite," Giard said. "And I like saying 'tick-borne bite' because we've had patients come in whose symptomatology really points to Babesiosis rather than Lyme. We treat it as if we're treating malaria."

"Babesiosis in particular is quite nasty," Giard says, noting that it can enlarge the spleen and liver.

Giard retests patients every six hours because of the way these organism shed their DNA.

Bartonellosis can infect humans, mammals and a wide range of wild animals, according to lymedisease.org. Its bacteria are known to be carried by fleas, body lice and ticks. Scientists suspect that ticks are a source of infection in some human cases of Bartonellosis. Some people who recall being bitten by ticks have been co-infected with Lyme and Bartonella.

According to lymedisease.org, Bartonellosis is often mild, but in serious cases it can affect the whole body. Early signs are fever, fatigue, headache, poor appetite, and an unusual, streaked rash. Swollen glands are typical, especially around the head, neck and arms.

Ehrlichiosis is the name for several animal and human diseases. Victims usually report flu-like symptoms — headache, fever, muscle aches, fatigue — and sometimes gastro-intestinal symptoms or rash. Symptoms typically appear five to 10 days after being bitten by an infected tick. The lone star tick is the primary vector.

All in all, a rather sobering set of prospects.

I would be remiss if I didn't include Hantavirus, an often fatal bio-safety level four pathogen, with the white-footed Deer Mouse the most common vector, as well as a whole host of recent mosquito vector diseases.

Jamestown Canyon Virus And Powassan Virus are now found in NH. The former has a mosquito vector, and the latter a tick vector. We have been dealing with Eastern Equine Encephalitis(mosquito vector, transmissable to humans via mosquito feeding) and West Nile Virus(Mosquito vector) for over a decade.

I'm sure I have missed a few. In early June this year, it has been tick-borne disease that has garnered most of the coverage as our fierce winter--and subsequent spring runoff was great for tick survival, but--according to those in the field--really kept the mosquito counts down. No science, but lots of outdoor perils to be aware of..of course, prevention is the real key to stopping vector-borne disease. Mosquito repellent high in DEET should keep you free of the mosquito vector pathogens.

In contradiction to the popular--and demonstrably wrong--views about DEET being an effective tick repellent, it is simply not so. DEET is a poor tick repellent, Permethrin is a great tick repellent. I have personally fairly saturated my very light tan boots with forty percent DEET repellent and have watched black legged ticks(Ixodes scapularis..primary vector for Lyme and a few other pathogens to humans) crawl right across my boots as if I was wearing no repellent. This was at most thirty minutes after application. These were the poppy seed sized nymphs that are the most active feeders on humans, and the primary transmitters to us. DEET being effective for controlling ticks may work for some subset of the population somewhere, but here in central New Hampshire, Permethrin is the safe choice.

I would be remiss if I didn't say a bit about "bug" repellent safety. These are toxins. I cannot state with any degree of certainty that these agents are safe to use. I have read everything that I can find about the relative safeties of these two agents, and can draw no firm conclusions. Read all that you can, but consider this a warning, NO 'natural' products I have tried provide effective safety. Living here, I have tried dozens to date. One more thing, once bitten you are at risk. The longer an infected tick feeds the greater the hazard, but no one living where tick-borne disease agents exist is ever one hundred percent safe once bitten. Staying out of areas where ticks are known to be found isn't a great option. Please do not take my word for any of this. Consider it a starting point with which to conduct your own research. Have fun in nature, but try and lessen your overall risks.