Lyme in the Southeast
Is Lyme disease really in the Southeast?
In a nutshell...
yes!
(But if you want the longer version, read the article below. Numerous scientific research studies and news articles documenting Lyme in the South are also listed on the right side of this page - scroll down and click links.)
Lyme Disease in Georgia and the Southeast: A Twenty Year Review
By Liz Schmitz, Georgia Lyme Disease Association, 2009
THE firsT TWENTY YEARS
Many people seem to believe that Lyme disease is not a problem in the Southeast. Over the years, we at the Georgia Lyme Disease Association have heard from literally hundreds of people who would probably disagree: they report that they have contracted Lyme disease right here in our state.
Skeptics may be unconvinced about these reports, dismissing them as anecdotal tales that, standing alone, don’t prove a thing. In fact, to the dismay of suffering patients, these cases are sometimes reasoned away by many as “false positives” without a second thought. We’ve found that once someone carefully examines all the data available about Lyme disease in the Southeast, however, even the most doubtful can agree that something is clearly going on here - something that warrants immediate scientific investigation.
Native cases of Lyme disease in the Southeast were definitely acknowledged by both federal and state public health officials in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Numerous scientists and medical providers have documented Lyme Borreliosis in our region through the years, as well.
Start with the fact that in 1989, Georgia ranked 4th highest in the nation in number of CDC-reported Lyme disease cases with a record 715 cases documented (1; 2; 3; 4). In 1988 Georgia was 12th highest nationally and in 1990 we ranked 9th (4).
In 1989 the Georgia Department of Human Resources provided free Lyme disease blood tests and conducted extensive LD education programs for physicians and the public which probably helped to increase the awareness and recognition of the disease. In The New York Times, Georgia health department official Dr. R. Keith Sikes reported the sharp increase in Georgia cases from 4 reports in 1987 to 715 in 1989 (3). A band of counties across middle Georgia, which had the highest density of deer, accounted for most of these incidences.
In a 1990 Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Entomology circular, Chief of Entomology H. A. Denmark and Professor J.F. Butler of the University of Florida reported, “In Florida, recent cases of Lyme disease have been verified by the Communicable Disease Center (CDC), Ft. Collins, which now recognizes it as endemic in 4 Florida counties including Hillsborough, Orange, Santa Rosa and Volusia. Twenty-seven counties in neighboring Georgia, and 5 Alabama counties were also identified as having native cases” [emphasis added]. This eye-opening article continues with a discussion of various potential tick vectors (5).
A South Carolina survey of physicians found that doctors diagnosed 334 Lyme disease cases in that state in 1990 (6). The same year, Georgia reported 160 Lyme disease cases – quite a noticeable drop from the prior year, but still placing us 9th highest in the nation. That year the Georgia Legislature cut the funding for the free tests (4). Additionally, the CDC changed the reporting criteria and, as we recently learned, the Georgia Division of Health implemented their own reporting practices over the years which differed greatly from the CDC’s national surveillance guidelines.* Georgia’s reported case numbers began to plummet.
Although the 715 cases found in Georgia in 1989 may now appear small in comparison to other areas of the country, consider that the CDC indicates that Lyme disease is underreported by 6 to 12 times (7) making it certainly possible that Georgia may have had over 7,000 cases in 1989 alone. Fast forward to 2009 and multiply those 7,000 case possibilities by 20 years. Could Georgia really have so many unrecognized and unreported Lyme disease cases?
In 1991 researchers at the University of Georgia’s Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study found B. burgdorferi antibodies in white-tailed deer, indicating that the organism had likely been in Georgia since at least 1971 (8; 9). The following year, another study appeared in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases: Borrelia spirochetes had been discovered in ticks which were recovered from white-tailed deer in Alabama (10).
-photo, USDA Lyme antibodies found in GA deer suggest the organism's presence here since at least 1971
Without much further ado, by 1993 our Georgia Lyme cases were basically dismissed by some as “false positives.” Northern researchers reported that few ticks bearing B. burgdorferi had been found in the state of Georgia (11). About the same time, reporting criteria for the disease began to narrow and be redefined, and has continued to do so throughout the years. Did Lyme disease really disappear from Georgia, just like that? Was it ever really here to begin with? Our southeastern scientists were determined to find out.
Along with colleagues, Dr. Jim Oliver, entomologist and director of the Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology at Georgia Southern University, began finding evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi in mice across the Southeast in the early 1990’s. Dr. Oliver also proved that the known tick vector of Lyme disease, Ixodes Scapularis or the deer tick, is absolutely found here across our region (12). In 1993, Dr. Oliver and colleagues first reported the isolation and transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete from the Southeast (13). (See excerpt about Dr. Oliver from Pam Weintraub’s book, Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic; at the bottom of this page.)
Dr. Oliver and colleagues reported the first isolation and transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete from the Southeast in 1993. - photo, CDC
Soon scientists in the Southeast began collaborating in regional Lyme disease studies. Dr. Oliver led and/or participated in study after study, where researchers tediously documented finding numerous strains of Borrelia burgdorferi in thousands of tick and animal specimens from across our region (see research studies; opposite page).
In a May 1993 news article summarizing a meeting of the American Society of Microbiology, the Atlanta Journal/Constitution’s staff writer Mike Toner reported, “Researchers say that at least five species of ticks in the Southeast carry the microbe that causes Lyme disease. Although the deer tick remains the most likely vector for the spread of the disease, Kentucky scientists say they also have found the germ responsible for Lyme disease in the common dog tick, the Lone Star tick and two other species, all of which are widespread throughout the Southeast. “These other ticks don’t appear to transmit the disease to humans as efficiently as the deer tick,” said Murray State University biologist Leon Duobinis-Gray. “But if I developed a rash or came down with a fever soon after one of these ticks bit me, I’d probably go see a doctor.” [emphasis added] (14).
Dr. Oliver and other scientists were also interviewed by reporters about their findings of B. burgdorferi in the Southeast in regional newspapers including the Atlanta Journal and Constitution (16). And in January 1995, when the Georgia Division of Public Health published their Georgia Epidemiology Report, which focused on the top ten communicable diseases of 1994, Lyme disease ranked tenth in our state, just behind Hepatitis C. (15) Yet, for some reason, the idea of looking for the Lyme disease bacteria – in initial cases or in incidences of chronic illness in humans – was not actively promoted in our region by public health officials. The scientific information about the many strains of Borrelia burgdorferi found across the Southeast appeared to be downplayed, if anything. From the time the Lyme bacteria was first discovered here in the South, years would pass before even a small study of human Lyme patients in Georgia would be undertaken.
Researchers at the Medical College of Georgia
studied a small group of human cases who presented with erythema migrans (Lyme rashes) following tick bites in a 1999 study (17). Thirty percent of these southeastern patients, indeed, had evidence of having Lyme disease or Borrelia burgdorferi infection. Using the CDC’s reporting criteria (which is not meant as criteria to diagnose and treat Lyme disease), only 9% tested positive. In other patients, the evidence was not clear; however, all rashes and symptoms resolved after antibiotic treatment. The lack of positive blood tests is not surprising considering the numerous reported problems with current testing methods (18). Additionally, many scientists hold the belief that the various strains of the bacteria could play a significant role in producing false negative test results. In any case, spirochete-like forms in tissue samples were seen under the microscope in 13% of patients in this 1999 Georgia study. This was important: finding spirochetes in tissue samples was likened to “looking for a needle in a haystack” by one nationally-known pathologist and Lyme disease researcher we interviewed.
Dr. Angela James of the CDC, reported in her presentation given in the year 2000 at the 13th International Conference on Lyme disease and other tick-borne disorders, “Borrelia burgdorferi has been isolated from several locales throughout the southern United States and these isolates appear to be genetically more diverse than isolates from the northeastern regions.” She concluded, “The prevalence and association of Borrelia burgdorferi, B. lonestari, and other, possibly new Borrelia genospecies to human illness remains unclear in the southern United States. Thus, a reevaluation of Lyme disease in the south is warranted” (19) [emphasis added].
Ironically, that same year, Georgia had 245 laboratory confirmations of Lyme disease reported to the state’s Division of Public Health. Of those, not a single case met the CDC’s strict reporting criteria for the disease (the CDC reported zero Georgia cases that year) (20). One would have to assume that those 245 tests were ordered by healthcare providers for a reason: doctors were seeing evidence of Lyme disease symptoms in patients following tick bites. Obviously Georgia patients’ blood seemed to be reacting to something; but what? Could it be that the problematic testing and the many different Bb southeastern strains combined with a healthy dose of skepticism were causing a diagnostic and epidemiologic nightmare for physicians and patients alike?
In 2003 Dr. Lance Durden, a scientist at Georgia Southern University, was interviewed by Jeff Nesmith of Cox News Service. Dr. Durden indicated that doctors in the South may not recognize cases of Lyme disease because they are conditioned to believe it is restricted to the Northeast. “Although seldom reported in the South, the disease and the ticks that carry it are plentiful in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina” the article begins. Dr. Durden stated that he suspects that cases in the South go unreported because physicians do not recognize it (21).
Clearly, however, some medical providers do recognize that Lyme disease is in the South. In a study published by doctors at Mercer University in 2002, a survey was sent to family physicians across Georgia. The results determined that Georgia family physicians diagnose and treat Lyme disease at a rate 40 times greater than the surveillance case rate (i.e., the official number of cases reported) (22). Similarly, a 2004 South Carolina physician survey found that doctors there diagnosed 253 cases of Lyme disease, 75 of which were lab-confirmed (23). (Lab confirmed statistics are often low when reporting Lyme patients newly infected with the disease because they normally won’t test positive at the onset of illness when a rash may occur – detectable antibodies can take several weeks to develop.) The survey confirmed that only 13 of the 253 Lyme disease cases diagnosed and treated were reported to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control that year.
Dr. Kerry Clark, Lyme disease researcher and Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at the University of North Florida, began collaborating with Dr. Jim Oliver in the 1990’s. Dr. Clark’s studies led to the first isolation and characterizations of B. burgdorferi in South Carolina (24). He has since documented the presence of three separate Lyme Borrelia species infecting ticks, lizards and small mammals in Florida and South Carolina (25; 26). Dr. Clark was the first ever to report finding Lyme disease spirochetes infecting wild reptiles, finding Bb in 8 of 9 lizard species from southeastern states (26).
Dr. Kerry Clark found B. burgdorferi in several species of lizards commonly found in the Southeast.
Clark’s work, published in 2005, was a breakthrough in understanding the ecology of Lyme disease in the Southeast. Prior to this, many in the scientific community assumed that we couldn’t have much Lyme disease here because studies have documented that the blood of a few species of lizards kills a few strains of B. burgdorferi. The hypothesis was that because ticks often feed upon lizards in the South, the lizard blood helped to halt the infection’s transmission cycle here. While this may be true of some species of lizards, many researchers and public health officials seemed to jump on the bandwagon and assumed that the blood of all lizard species kills all Lyme spirochetes. These assumptions seemed to be made even about strains that haven’t been cultured and studied yet. Dr. Clark’s research proved that many lizard species in the Southeast can, indeed, harbor Lyme disease bacteria, and for long periods of time. (His research showed evidence of Bb transmission from broad-headed skinks to feeding larval ticks five months after infection.) Other studies have since documented similar findings in lizards (27; 28; 29). This important work helps explain the enzootic transmission cycle of the spirochete, or how the Lyme disease bacteria may be maintained in nature, here in the Southeast.
Nymph deer ticks seldom feed on humans in the South, but adult deer ticks do. In 2006 Biologist Dr. Alan Smith and colleagues from Mercer University presented a paper entitled, “Detection of the Causative Agents of Lyme Disease, Ehrlichiosis, and STARI in Individual Black-legged ticks collected from the white-tailed deer of the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge,” during the annual meeting of the Association of Southeastern Biologists held in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Over 1,000 ticks were collected from deer at the refuge in Hillsboro, Georgia during the study, with the large majority of them being black-legged deer ticks. Of the deer ticks examined, 6.32% and 1.26% tested positive for Ehrlichia and Borrelia burgdorferi, respectively (30). So even as scientists are trying to ascertain whether other tick species may be transmitting Lyme disease in our region, the proven vector of the illness obviously remains alive, well and abundant in Georgia.
Ixodes Scapularis, a.k.a., the deer tick, is known to transmit Lyme Disease. Nymphs are minute. Although nymph deer ticks do not commonly feed upon humans in the South, adult deer ticks do.
Photo courtesy CDC.
Other Lyme disease reports across the Southeast significantly contribute to the overall picture (see articles on opposite page). Last summer in North Carolina - another state considered “non-endemic” for the disease - the military conducted a study at Camp Lejeune. They concluded that “Lyme disease is a risk to Marine corps personnel at Camp Lejeune." The Lyme bacteria was found in one-third of the Ixodes affinis ticks they collected surrounding the military base. Lyme disease cases at Camp Lejeune were six times the cases at a base in Connecticut, a state where Lyme disease is considered hyper-endemic (31). Surprisingly, despite this report and the fact that the neighboring state of Virginia has documented hundreds of Lyme disease cases, North Carolina officials seem to deny that Lyme disease is a problem there.
Assessments of other military bases obtained by the FOIA were posted on the Internet years ago by Lyme disease patient advocate, Art Doherty. It would appear that risk assessment studies done by the United States Army from 1983-1996 indicated, even back then, that military personnel are at “some” to “moderate” risk of contracting Lyme disease at various bases in the South (32).
In several Lyme disease studies, dogs have been described as sentinels for human Lyme Borreliosis (33; 34; 35; 36). It is interesting then, that both Georgia and Florida have over 500 cases each of Lyme disease in domestic dogs on record from 2001-2007. Many other states across the South report numerous infected dogs, as well (37). It doesn’t appear that we’re paying heed to the alarm sounding from our four-legged friends.
more strains in the south
The truth is that scientists have discovered more strains of the Lyme disease bacteria here in the South than have been identified even in the North, leaving them to hypothesize that the organism may have been here longer. Dr. Jim Oliver at Georgia Southern University has 275-300 strains of the Lyme disease organism, Borrelia burgdorferi, in his laboratory all found right here in the Southeast (38; 39). Over 50 of those are Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto - meaning “in the strict sense.” Strains nearly identical to the notorious B31 strain, shown directly to be a causative agent of Lyme disease in humans, have long been documented in our region.
The majority of southeastern Lyme disease bacteria strains have been detected through molecular testing methods. So far, most cannot be grown, or cultured, using standard culture medium. This means these strains have not yet been adequately studied. Perhaps many of them are not pathogenic (disease-causing); conversely, some might even cause symptoms more severe than seen in Northern Lyme disease patients.
Many scientists and patients suspect that, in addition to the deer tick, the Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum) may be capable of transmitting Lyme disease. We certainly hear from of lot of people who seem to contract the illness after Lone Star ticks bites. If conclusively proven, this would change the entire picture in the South and nearly halfway across the nation, where these ticks are found. Lone Star ticks are a very aggressive species and are the ticks most commonly found feeding on humans in the Southeast. Borrelia burgdorferi has absolutely been documented in other tick species, including Amblyomma americanum (40; 41; 42; 43; 44; 45).
Although some experiments have shown that Lone Star tick saliva may kill certain strains of the bacteria, not all strains have been investigated. Borrelia lonestari (formerly thought to be the culprit in Southern Lyme disease cases or STARI), is a member of the Borrelia family and it certainly appears to survive tick saliva in some cases. It, therefore, cannot be concluded that Lone Star tick saliva kills all strains of Borrelia all the time. Similarly, we cannot assume that the blood of any animal always inhibits the growth of all the unculturable Bb strains. Currently scientists are examining B. burgdorferi’s remarkable adaptability and modes of survival. So while studies have indicated that a few particular strains of the bacteria may not be transmitted by other tick species, we must keep in mind that far more research involving the various strains is necessary before we can rule out anything with certainty.
A female Lone Star tick commonly found in the South. Is it possible these ticks are transmitting Lyme disease? Some people think so. photo, cdc
looking to the future
The Lyme disease bacteria have been found to have come from Europe before the Ice Age (46). Not only have scientists found hundreds of strains of these bacteria here in the Southeast over the past two decades, Borrelia burgdorferi has now been documented on every continent except Antarctica. To imagine this organism is jumping from animal to man in other areas across the globe, but is not infecting humans here in our region, would be imprudent.
Due to our mild climate in the South, ticks here are active year round. We have a huge abundance of ticks; people across our area can attest to that. Southerners who enjoy any amount of time outdoors are accustomed to pulling ticks off frequently and most of us think nothing of a tick bite; it’s an everyday, common occurrence. If severe disease symptoms may not fully manifest immediately following the bite of an infected tick, could we possibly be missing something really big here?
The syphilis spirochete is a bacterium closely related to Lyme Borrelia and it can go dormant for long periods of time. How can we be certain that infected ticks aren’t biting people who then, months to years later, develop some form of chronic illness that may be Borrelia related? After all, researchers have documented Borrelia spirochetes in some cases of Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Parkinson’s disease, Scleroderma, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic illnesses worldwide in published, peer-reviewed medical literature. And while we at the Georgia Lyme Disease Association are certainly not ready to go out on a limb and suggest that all cases of these illnesses are directly related to Lyme disease, doesn’t the simple fact that Borrelia spirochetes have been identified in any chronic disease of unknown origin deserve immediate investigation?
Lyme disease remains widely unrecognized and underreported in the Southeast and in other areas across the country. A more intensive investigation of human cases in our region is long overdue. There is an awful lot to learn about these bacteria and a dire need for more funding of independent research in the South. We need to discover how to culture the numerous southeastern Lyme bacteria strains so we can adequately study them. We must determine what tick vectors might transmit them, their animal reservoirs, and the exact role they may play in human disease. We need to invest in the development of better, more accurate tests - direct-detection tests that don’t rely on a patient’s fluctuating antibodies, and tests which are able to detect all B. burgdorferi strains. Further independent studies are vital to protect public health.
We must not continue to report that Lyme disease in humans is rare in the Southeast, when the whole truth is…we just don’t know. Unbelievably, after all this time, adequate studies have never been done here, leaving us to wonder who, if anyone, is minding the store. Considering all the strains scientists have discovered here and the hundreds of anecdotal accounts from chronically ill, suffering patients across the Southeast – patients who are not being counted and who have for years reported tick bites, rashes, flu-like symptoms, arthritis, heart and neurological complications, in addition to often having positive blood tests - can we really afford to keep ignoring the fact that Lyme disease is here?
Lyme Disease in
the Southeast:
Some of the Research
[click on article titles below]
1986
LA Magnarelli, JF Anderson, CS Apperson, D Fish, RC Johnson, and WA Chappell
Spirochetes in ticks and antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in white-tailed deer from Connecticut, New York State and North Carolina
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
1991
LA Magnarelli, Oliver JH Jr, HJ Hutcheson, and JF Anderson
Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in deer and raccoons
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
1992
S Luckhart, GR Mullen, LA Durden, and JC Wright
Borrelia sp. in ticks recovered from white-tailed deer in Alabama
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
1992
Magnarelli LA, Oliver JH Jr, Hutcheson HJ, Boone JL, Anderson JF.
Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in rodents in the eastern and southern United States
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
1993
North Carolina State University
The Tennessee Valley Authority
Proceedings of the Second Workshop on Lyme Disease in the Southeast
(Thirty-seven pages)
Raleigh, North Carolina
1993
Oliver JH, Jr, Owsley MR, Hutcheson HJ, James AM, Chen C, Irby WS, Dotson EM, McLain DK
Conspecificity of the ticks Ixodes scapularis and I. dammini (Acari: Ixodidae)
Journal of Medical Entomology
1993
GL Mahnke, DE Stallknecht, CE Greene, VF Nettles, and MA Marks
Serologic survey for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in white-tailed deer in Georgia
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
1993
J. H. Oliver, JR., F. W. Chandler, JR., M. P. Luttrell, A. M. James, D. E. Stallknecht
Isolation and transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete from the southeastern United States
Proc. of the National Academy of Sciences, United States of America
1995
Oliver JH Jr, Chandler FW Jr, James AM, Sanders FH Jr, Hutcheson HJ, Huey LO, McGuire BS, Lane RS.
Journal of Parasitology
1996
Oliver JH Jr, Chandler FW Jr, James AM, Huey LO, Vogel GN, Sanders FH Jr.
Unusual strain of Borrelia burgdorferi isolated from Ixodes dentatus in central Georgia
Journal of Parasitology
1996
Oliver, Jr., J. H.
Lyme borreliosis in the southern United States: a review
Journal of Parasitology
1997
J Ouellette, CS Apperson, P Howard, TL Evans, and JF Levine
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
1998
J.H. Oliver Jr., T.M. Kollars Jr.,F. W. Chandler Jr., A. M. James, E. J. Masters, R. S. Lane, and L. O. Huey
First Isolation and Cultivation of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato from Missouri
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
1998
Edwin Masters, MD; Scott Granter, MD; Paul Duray, MD; Paul Cordes, MD
Physician-Diagnosed Erythema Migrans and Erythema Migranslike Rashes Following Lone Star Tick Bites
Archives of Dermatology
1999
Thomas M. Kollars, Jr, PhD: Donald D. Ourtn: PhD; Timothy D. Lockey, PhD
IgG Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in raccoons in Tennessee
Journal of Spirochetal and Tick-borne Diseases
1999
Michael W. Felz, MD; Francis W. Chandler, Jr, DVM, PhD; James H. Oliver, Jr, PhD; Daniel W. Rahn, MD; Martin E. Schriefer, PhD
Solitary Erythema Migrans in Georgia and South Carolina
Archives of Dermatology
1999
OliverJ. H.; MagnarelliL. A.; HutchesonH. J.; AndersonJ. F.
Journal of Medical Entomology
2000
Kinsey AA, Durden LA, Oliver JH Jr.
Tick infestations of birds in coastal Georgia and Alabama
Journal of Parasitology
2000
Oliver, Jr, J. H., K. L. Clark, F. W. Chandler Jr., T. Lin, A. M. James, C. W. Banks, L. O. Huey, A. R. Banks, D. C. Williams, and L. A. Durden
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2000
CS Ryan JRApperson, PE Orndorff, and JF Levin
Characterization of Lyme disease spirochetes isolatedfrom ticks and vertebrates in North Carolina
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
2001
Clark, K. L., J. H. Oliver Jr., J. M. Grego, A. M. James, L. A. Durden, and C. W. Banks
Journal of Parasitology
2001
Lin, T., J. H. Oliver Jr., L. Gao, T. M. Kollars Jr., and K. L. Clark.
Genetic Heterogeneity of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato in the Southern United States Based on Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism and Sequence Analysis
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2002
Lin, T., J. H. Oliver Jr., and L. Gao.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2002
Clark Kerry L; Oliver James H; James Angela M; Durden Lance A; Banks Craig W
Journal of Medical Entomology
2002
Durden LA, Oliver JH Jr, Banks CW, Vogel GN
Experimental and Applied Acarology
2003
Oliver, Jr, J. H., T. Lin, L. Gao, K. L. Clark, C. W. Banks, L. A. Durden, A. M. James, and F. W. Chandler Jr..
An enzootic transmission cycle of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in the southeastern United States.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A 100:1164211645.
2003
Lin, T., J. H. Oliver Jr., and L. Gao.
Federation of European Microbiological Societies Microbiology Letters 228:249257
2004
Lin, T., J. H. Oliver Jr., and L. Gao
Journal of Parasitology
2004
Clark, Kerry
Borrelia Species in Host-Seeking Ticks and Small Mammals in Northern Florida
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2004
Louis A. Magnarelli, Jacob W. IJdo ,Uma Ramakrishnan, David W. Henderson, Kirby C. Stafford, III ,Erol Fikrig
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
2004
Durden Lance A; Polur Ram N; Nims Todd; Banks Craig W; Oliver James H
Journal of Parasitology
2005
Clark K, Hendricks A, Burge D.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
2005
Haynes, Lee, Siepelt, Wright
Detection of Borrelia Burgdorferi sequences in a biopsy from a Tennessee patient
Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science
2008
Subacute transverse myelitis with Lyme profile dissociation.
German Medical Science: GMS e-journal
2008
James H. Oliver Jr., Lihui Gao, Tao Lin
Journal of Parasitology
2009
Nataliia Rudenko, Maryna Golovchenko,Libor Grubhoffer,and James H. Oliver Jr.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2009
Rudenko N, Golovchenko M, Lin T, Gao L, Grubhoffer L, Oliver JH Jr.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
2010
Rudenko N, Golovchenko M, Grubhoffer L, Oliver JH Jr.
Borrelia carolinensis sp. nov., a new species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolated from rodents and tick from the southeastern United States.
International Journal of Systemic and Evolutionary Microbiology
2010
Oliver Jr. J. H., Golovchenko M, Grubhoffer L., Rudenko N.
Diversity of Borrelia species isolated from different developmental stages of Ixodes minor collected from a single bird reservoir host in southeastern United States
12th International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-borne Diseases, Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 26-29, 2010
2011
Golovchenko M., Rudenko N., Grubhoffer L., Oliver Jr. J.H.
Genotypic diversity of southeastern Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto: distribution of OspC gene in southeastern United States.
7th Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens International Conference (TTP7), Zaragosa, Spain, August 28-September 2, 2011
2011
Rudenko N., Golovchenko M., Grubhoffer L., Oliver Jr. J.H.
Borrelia kurtenbachii is widely distributed in southeastern United States
7th Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens International Conference (TTP7), Zaragosa, Spain, August 28-September 2, 2011
2011
Rudenko N, Golovchenko M, Grubhoffer L, Oliver JH Jr.
Updates on Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex with respect to public health.
Ticks and Tick-bone Diseases
2013
Nataliia Rudenko, Maryna Golovchenko,
Václav Hönig, Nadja Mallátová, Lenka
Krbková, Peter Mikulášek, Natalia Fedorova,
Natalia M. Belfiore, Libor Grubhoffer,
Robert S. Lane, James H. Oliver Jr.
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto ospC alleles associated with human Lyme borreliosis
worldwide were detected in non-human biting tick Ixodes affinis and rodent hosts in
southeastern U.S.A
Lyme in the Southeast:
Various other articles
(Visit our Facebook page for current news updates.)
4/11/89
Roy Roberson
Lyme Disease In Alabama Studied By AAES Researcher
Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station
August 1991
Schuman SH, Caldwell ST
1990 South Carolina Physician Survey of tick, spider and fire ant morbidity
Journal S.C. Medical Association
1996
Terry L. Schulze, PhD and Edward M. Bosler, PhD.
Another look at the potential role of Amblyomma americanum in the transmission of tick-borne disease
Journal of Spirochetal and Tick-borne Diseases
May 1, 2001
David N. Reifsnyder, MD
Letter to the Editor: Lyme Disease inthe South
Infections in Medicine
Posted Sep. 16, 2003
Jeff Nesmith, Cox News Service
The Charlotte Observer
(Linked to article at CANLYME.com)
2005
Rash Decisions about Southern TickAssociated Rash Illness and Lyme Disease
Clincial Infectious Diseases
July 9, 2005
Bill Vilona, Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal
Florida State's Sexton will miss season due to Lyme disease
USA Today
July 2005
Charlotte Fulton
Two Limestone women get reprieve from ALS diagnosis
Athens News-Courier
April 10, 2006
Terry Price
GA Forestry Commission
Forest Pests: Insects,Diseases & Other Damage Agents-Forest Pests.org
July 2006
Ivar L. Frithsen, MD; William M. Simpson, Jr., MD
2004 South Carolina Physician Survey of Tick, Spider and Fire Ant Morbidity
The eJournal of the South Carolina Medical Association
February 19, 2008
Jean P. Fisher
Patients push boundaries of Lyme disease debate
The News and Observer
March 10, 2008
Chris Trainor
Lyme Patient Part of Landmark Case
The Index-Journal
Summer 2008
Kerry Clark, MPH, PhD
Lyme Disease in Florida: What you need to know
One Health Newsletter;
Vol. 1, Issue 3, page 11
April 2009
Angela James
Michael J. Fox teams with Champions golfer Tim Simpson
WTSP
April 20, 2009
Marc C. Dolan
Lyme Disease: Been there, done that
The Post and Courier
April 26, 2009
SarahAvery, Staff Writer
N.C. in denial on Lyme disease?
The News & Observer
(The article includes mention of military study at Camp Lejeune which found Marines there with six times the cases of Lyme disease at a base in Connecticut.)
April 29, 2009
Lyme disease in Florida? One mom's warning
Orlando Sentinel
May 11, 2009
Sarah Avery
The Charlotte News and Observer
May 12, 2009
Jill Coley
Questions LingerAbout Lyme Disease
The Post and Courier
May 14, 2009
Associated Press
Bauer speaking at SC Lyme disease awareness rally
WCSC TV/DT
May 19, 2009
Jeremy Cox
UNF professor works to unlock Lyme disease's mysteries
The Florida Times-Union
June 9, 2009
Dave Tierney
The Cary News
July 18, 2009
Mike Foley, Associated Press
Lyme disease threatens S.C. residents
Aiken Standard
August 12, 2009
E. I. Rottersman
Woman Contracts Lyme disease on Sanibel
Fort Myers Florida Weekly
September 2, 2009
Jonathan Jackson
Group aims to raise awareness, support of Lyme disease
The Union-Recorder
October 1, 2009
Associated Press
Doctors think Lyme Disease can be caught in North Carolina
WGHP - TV/Fox 8
October 1, 2009
Sarah Avery - Staff Writer
State Affirms Lyme Disease Danger
Raleigh News & Observer
October 27, 2009
Pete Kaliner Radio Show
Lyme Disease Radio Show-Charlotte, NC
WBT-Radio
(click on title above to be taken to map)
Dogs have been described as "sentinels" for
human Lyme borreliosis in many studies.
Did you know that a single lab has identified
nearly 600 cases of Lyme disease in
Georgia dogs?
Check out the interactive map
to see Lyme disease cases in dogs by
stateand by county. Click on your state to
zoom in tosee county numbers.
Many southern Lyme
patients know of
Dr. Jim Oliver's impressive work...but
have you readwhat Pam Weintraub wrote?
In"Rebel with a Cause: The Incredible Dr. Masters, Part IV," on Psychology Today's Emerging Diseases June 30, 2009 blog,author Pam Weintraub writes:
"It would take a world class entomologist to put it all together, explaining the rationale for a southern version of the disease. That scientist was James. H. Oliver, Jr., Callaway Professor of Biology and Director of the Institute of Arthropology and Parasitology at Georgia Southern University. The first thing Oliver did was determine that mice through the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi tested positive for the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, generating as many reactive antibodies as mice from Connecticut.
Oliver later learned that southern Lyme is transmitted most often by the lonestar tick, which carries a spirochete that is still unknown. (Evidence is mounting that the unknown spirochete may be nothing more than an alternate strain of northern-style Lyme) But there's more. Oliver has ultimately found a range of new Southern ticks transmitting a pastiche of borreliae. And he's recently reported a unique Southern strain of B. burgdorferi with outer surface proteins so unusual they are undetectable on blood tests used up North.
"When you consider Jim Oliver's findings," said Ed Masters, "comparing northern stuff to southern stuff is like comparing a pedigreed world champion poodle to a junkyard dog."
To read the rest of the article, click below:
Psychology Today Emerging Diseases blog/Masters
To read more about Dr. Oliver and southern Lyme disease from Pam Weintraub read
Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic
Learn to recognize signs and
symptoms of Lyme and tick-borne
diseases and seek immediate
medical attention and proper
treatment if symptoms develop
following a tick bite. Remember, in
some cases, symptoms may not
manifest for months to years.
September 19, 2009
A radio interview with the
University of North Florida's
Lyme and tick-borne disease researcher
Dr. Kerry Clark
a.k.a "the Tick Doctor"
-click above link to listen-
WJCT-NPR 89.9
Jacksonville, Florida
Please support
Lyme Disease Research.
Visit our TAKE ACTION page to learn more.
Lyme Disease tests may be
falsely negative
particularly during the
4-6 weeks following a tick bite.
Measurable antibodies may not
yet have developed.
Therefore, it is
prudent to promptly and
adequately treat all
rashes and symptoms that
develop after a tick bite.
To avoid complications, it is crucial
to treat Lyme disease EARLY.
Prophylatic treatment using one
dose of oral doxycycline is very
controversial;thisleft the majority
of mice in a study infected with
Lyme borrelia butblocked anitbodies
from forming so they
wereseronegative (had negative antibody tests).
Help prevent Lyme disease and
tick-borne illnesses!
See our PREVENTION page.
Note:tick photos, this page, courtesy CDC.