Post by bugsy on Aug 12, 2007 15:57:07 GMT -5
I think a lot of us already kinda suspected this.
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Migratory birds spread Lyme disease to every state - city dwellers at risk, too
For years U.S. scientists have blamed the Lyme epidemic on deer, but birds spread it farther, wider
08/12/07
By DEREK CLONTZ/National Lyme Report
Migratory birds transmit Lyme disease's spirochetes to every city, state, country and corner of the globe, say researchers, putting everyone at risk ... even people who live in big cities. This flies in the face of the "party line" Americans have heard from federal authorities for decades.
We've been told Lyme was "isolated" and could only spread as far as ticks and their preferred hosts, white-tailed deer, range through the wood and field.
City dwellers considered themselves to be immune. Even rural folk in areas not populated by deer thought of Lyme disease as something "people in Connecticut get."
But migratory birds fly everywhere, now, as stunning research proves, taking Lyme with them.
And if you don't think ticks hitch rides on birds, you're misinformed.
Researchers in Sweden and Finland - where Lyme is common - say birds are especially prone to Borrelia-infected ticks during their autumn and spring migrations.
The bacteria may also persist for several months in the birds and it may then be reactivated in response to migration, the same experts have learned.
Borrelia spirochetes and the role of birds as global transmitters of the bacteria have been investigated by a Swedish research group led by Professor Sven Bergstrom. The group is part of a Finnish-Swedish research consortium included in the Microbes and Man Research Programme, which is co-funded by the Academy of Finland and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research.
"The fact that the same type of Lyme disease exists in both the northern and the southern hemisphere shows that birds participate in the natural circulation of Borrelia spirochetes by carrying them all across the globe," Bergstrom said.
Previously, it was thought that only mammals such as the white-tailed deer and white-eared mouse could function as reservoir hosts for Borrelia infected ticks.
The research results of the Bergstrom group show that Borrelia-infected ticks thrive on birds as well – without a mammal reservoir.
Lyme Borreliosis is an infectious disease caused by the Borrelia bacterium.
It can cause eczemas, arthritis and, at the worst, different kinds of neurological disorders. In Finland, thousands of people are infected by the disease each year.
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=1007&NewsID=829195&CategoryID=19239&on=0
___________________________________________
Migratory birds spread Lyme disease to every state - city dwellers at risk, too
For years U.S. scientists have blamed the Lyme epidemic on deer, but birds spread it farther, wider
08/12/07
By DEREK CLONTZ/National Lyme Report
Migratory birds transmit Lyme disease's spirochetes to every city, state, country and corner of the globe, say researchers, putting everyone at risk ... even people who live in big cities. This flies in the face of the "party line" Americans have heard from federal authorities for decades.
We've been told Lyme was "isolated" and could only spread as far as ticks and their preferred hosts, white-tailed deer, range through the wood and field.
City dwellers considered themselves to be immune. Even rural folk in areas not populated by deer thought of Lyme disease as something "people in Connecticut get."
But migratory birds fly everywhere, now, as stunning research proves, taking Lyme with them.
And if you don't think ticks hitch rides on birds, you're misinformed.
Researchers in Sweden and Finland - where Lyme is common - say birds are especially prone to Borrelia-infected ticks during their autumn and spring migrations.
The bacteria may also persist for several months in the birds and it may then be reactivated in response to migration, the same experts have learned.
Borrelia spirochetes and the role of birds as global transmitters of the bacteria have been investigated by a Swedish research group led by Professor Sven Bergstrom. The group is part of a Finnish-Swedish research consortium included in the Microbes and Man Research Programme, which is co-funded by the Academy of Finland and the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research.
"The fact that the same type of Lyme disease exists in both the northern and the southern hemisphere shows that birds participate in the natural circulation of Borrelia spirochetes by carrying them all across the globe," Bergstrom said.
Previously, it was thought that only mammals such as the white-tailed deer and white-eared mouse could function as reservoir hosts for Borrelia infected ticks.
The research results of the Bergstrom group show that Borrelia-infected ticks thrive on birds as well – without a mammal reservoir.
Lyme Borreliosis is an infectious disease caused by the Borrelia bacterium.
It can cause eczemas, arthritis and, at the worst, different kinds of neurological disorders. In Finland, thousands of people are infected by the disease each year.
news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=1007&NewsID=829195&CategoryID=19239&on=0