Welcome March

Snow cover has gone from 43 cm Feb. 25, to 35 cm. I showed you Frosty. He needs a paint job, but it's too cold to paint in these temperatures. It was -9 this morning.

I've had various successes with Frosty. It hasn't gone well since his tree stump required his removal. It was easy on the ground, but atop the stump, which is wobbly, I cannot reach easily.

It occurred to me, I wasn't sure where my big March flag was. Ah, I found it next day. The old flag pole bit the dust. The tree stump is falling apart, as well. After Plan A and B failed, I figured out Plan C to hang it.

There were 18 deer Wednesday morning. The numbers keep building as they try to keep something in their bellies. We don't give them more than a mouthful each, twice a day. It's good exercise. Poor JB hurt his arm shoveling. He still has a stiff neck, with pain. He has been scolded and then used his Dr. Ho, and heating pads.

Zola 3  is holding her own in the crowd. I think she'll be a survivor.

I spotted Oregano, the feral/wild cat, but he chose not to be videoed. That was an adventure tracking him yesterday. [Zola, Oregano]

 Look who I spotted, though! I am truly surprised it picked up the mouse. deermouse in the headlights

 

 

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month

Tiny, microscopic parasite

I've been doing some research on Lyme disease. Specifically, it is the Borrelia burgdorferi infection that gives mammals this diseases. Being a zoonosis, it is a disease that results from a parasite (black-legged ticks) that passes Borrelia burgdorferi on from its gut to pets and humans.

Symptoms of the disease (healthunit.org)

•  may include bulls eye rash, fever, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint pain. 
• These may disappear within 10 days, but if left untreated, Lyme disease can progress and affect the nervous system, joints and the heart.
• Treatments, they now realize, may require more than the 30 days.

Ticks live on many hosts

There is some interesting research on it. Some research is better than others.  On one island study done on a Maine island (1.), they determined that since they didn't have mice, that it was passed on by Norway Rats. Norway rats were heavily infested with ticks, and over 60% of ticks contained spirochetes (the bacterium).

In Lanark County they blame the deer that carry the ticks. Studies show that rats, chipmunks, and all sorts of rodents have it. 

For the most part, most of our pets are able to fight off the disease, as do people, they think. 

The prevalence of antibody to B. burgdorferi was 23% in dogs and cats; 4% of the Maine island residents, meaning they fought the infection. [J Infect Dis. (1993) 168 (3): 687-691. doi: 10.1093/infdis/168.3.687]

In another study:

tick –hasn't fed yet

Chipmunks And Shrews, Not Just Mice, Harbor Lyme Disease(2.)

• According to the study, white-footed mice account for about 25% of infected ticks.
• "Short-tailed shrews and masked shrews were responsible for 25% each, and chipmunks for as much as 13 percent."

I truly wonder how they study this, though.
I went out at 3 a.m., to fetch a cat in. When I awake at 7 a.m., just a few hours later, I had a tick embedded in my right arm!

Embedded tick

Lyme Disease
–often confused with other
medical issues

Macleans magazine featured an article on this subject: The Truth About Lyme Disease–
Lyme disease can masquerade as MS, ALS, even dementia, and its numbers are growing. So why is Canada lagging behind in treating it?
Truthfully, I think the medical profession has to realize what they are dealing with, and how many people are being infected. Some need more than the one month of treatment.

Compare the tick size to a ball-point pen

  Referenced Journal Articles

1. Norway Rats as Reservoir Hosts for Lyme Disease Spirochetes on Monhegan Island, Maine. J Infect Dis. (1993) 168 (3): 687-691. doi: 10.1093/infdis/168.3.687

This tick I pulled off the cat
with tweezers

2. Chipmunks And Shrews, Not Just Mice, Harbor Lyme Disease
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, is transmitted to humans by infected, blacklegged ticks. The ticks, infected as larvae during their first meal — the blood of a vertebrate — are middle men.

University of Pennsylvania. (2007, December 6). Chipmunks And Shrews, Not Just Mice, Harbor Lyme Disease. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129183745.htm

Book:

Ending Denial – The Lyme Disease Epidemic – A Canadian Public Health Disaster  – A Canadian Public Health Disaster, edited by Helke Ferrie, a non-profit joint project by Kos Publishing Inc and the Lyme Action Group: $ 30 per copy, 50% discount for 5 or more copies plus postage. For orders call 519-927-1049 or FAX 519-927-9542.

May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month(PDF)

healthunit.org

How Patients, Doctors, Researchers, and Politicians are Trying to Awaken Canadian Health Authorities to the Reality of This Emerging Epidemic

Tick Submission Forms

• Submission Form for Tick Identification (Health Canada)

Resources

• Insect Repellents - It's Your Health
• Ticks & Lyme Disease Pamphlet
• Ticks & Lyme Disease Poster

- See more.

Websites

It's these legs that let the tick crawl through fur
and hang on for hours.

• www.LymeActionGroup.blogspot.com for information on this book and Lyme politics in Canada

• www.CanLyme.com, tel. 250-768-0978

• www.ILADS.org to find a Lyme-literate doctor in North America

• www.lymediseaseassociation.org for information on all matters concerning Lyme disease www.lymeontario.org, patient support specific to Ontario

• For the 2008 documentary film, Under Our Skin, contact www.underourskin.com

• For reliable, verified testing for Lyme disease: www.igenixinc.com or call 1-800-538-9820

The first tick has eaten, and is engorged. The others, I harvested off of the cats. Once they die their legs fold under.

You can compare their size to the straight pin. There are many varieties of ticks. Your best bet is to be vigilant, check you, your family, and your pets. I'l do a post about that next!