Show 1472: Beyond Lyme: Stealth Infections from Flea and Tick Bites

Tick season is well underway in many parts of the country. It seems that a mild winter and a warm spring have brought the nymphs out seeking blood. If that blood is yours, you may be exposed to a range of pathogens. What’s more, ticks are not the only creatures ready to bite you. Fleas are an even bigger problem when it comes to transmitting bacteria called Bartonella. That genus is responsible for cat scratch disease and trench fever. When the infection goes chronic, it’s called bartonellosis. What are the dangers of flea and tick bites?

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The Hazards of Flea and Tick Bites

Ticks can transmit a dizzying number of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and protozoa. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, for example, occurs when a tick injects Rickettsia rickettsii into a person through a bite. If not treated properly, it can be fatal. Fortunately, however, it usually responds to doxycycline. The NCSU laboratory has developed a reliable diagnostic test that picks it up quickly.

Another tick-borne disease that has become familiar over the last few decades is Lyme disease. It is carried by deer ticks infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. If treated promptly, most people clear the disease, but sometimes it morphs into a stealth infection that is quite controversial.

You may not think much about flea bites, but they too could be the source of a stealth infection. Fleas transmit Bartonella (and so do body lice, ants, pigeon mites, rat mites and sand flies). Cats can be infected (with three different species of Bartonella) and so can dogs (only two species). When people develop bartonellosis, it can cause liver disease and neurological problems such as headaches and memory loss. In some cases, infected people suffer seizures.

Preventing Flea and Tick Bites

Once Bartonella get into the body, it likes to hide. The bacteria can enter virtually any cell in the body and make itself at home. As a consequence, the immune system may have difficulty tracking it down and eliminating it. Antibiotics don’t always get to it, either. Treatments of entrenched infections need to be very intensive.

So it is better to prevent flea and tick bites. One way is to make sure that pets are protected. Veterinarians can prescribe preventive medicine for them, either oral or topical. Another important step is to protect yourself. Wear effective insect repellent when outside or cover your long pants with permethrin-treated gaiters. And absolutely do not skip the tick check when you come inside. If you find a tick that has bitten you, remove it with tweezers, seal it in a plastic bag, date the bag and put it in the refrigerator. That could provide useful identification if you begin to feel ill over the next several days. When the type of tick is identified, it helps to point the infectious disease expert in the correct direction for what condition you may have.

This Week's Guest

Dr. Edward B. Breitschwerdt is a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He is also an adjunct professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, and a Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM). Dr. Breitschwerdt directs the Intracellular Pathogens Research Laboratory in the Institute for Comparative Medicine at North Carolina State University. He also co-directs the Vector Borne Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory and is the director of the NCSU-CVM Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory. Dr. Breitschwerdt’s clinical interests include infectious diseases, immunology, and nephrology.

https://www.galaxydx.com/about-us/meet-the-team/edward-breitschwerdt-dvm-dacvim-saim/

[caption id="attachment_139805" align="alignnone" width="768"] Dr. Ed Breitschwerdt, NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine[/caption]