News & Resources

Rabbit carcasses found in Elkhart County near Middlebury tested positive for tularemia, a rare bacterial disease usually transmitted through dog tick and deer fly bites or by contact with an infected animal. The bacteria may also be spread by contact with contaminated soil or…

Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) is an emerging tick-borne disease causing an annular rash that is almost identical to erythema migrans seen in Lyme disease. It is spread by Lone star tick bite. There is no approved diagnostic modality nor approved treatment. 

Analysis detected repeated SLEV introductions from Arizona into southern California. Swetnam DM et al. Movement of St. Louis encephalitis virus in the Western United States, 2014- 2018. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2020) 14(6): e0008343.

Delayed initiation of treatment with an appropriate antibiotic is associated with adverse outcomes including increased rates of hospitalization, admission to an intensive care unit, and mortality. The earliest symptoms are nonspecific: fever, headache, myalgias, and nausea and/…

2 Connecticut residents have tested positive Powassan virus.... From 2016 to 2020, a total of 10 cases were reported in the state, including 2 in 2020; 2 of these infections were deadly. "The Identification of two Connecticut residents with Powassan virus associated illness…

318 counties in 27 states, principally in the Great Lakes, mid-Atlantic, and southeastern regions, reported LACV human cases. West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Ohio had 80% of reported cases. 88% of cases occurred in individuals under the age of 18. 59% were male.…

Sporadic EEE outbreaks have reoccurred in the Northeast with increasing frequency. There has been a northward expansion of human cases during the last 20 years. Armstrong PM,  Andreadis TG  Ecology and Epidemiology of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus in the Northeastern…

Jamestown Canyon, Powassan, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses are increasingly important vector-borne diseases that can cause human disease in North America. They have no cure.

Strategies for diagnosis, treatment and management of babesiosis. Krause PJ et al Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA): 2020 Guideline on Diagnosis and Management of Babesiosis. Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 72, Issue 2, 15…

There is marked underreporting of these life-threatening diseases. Experts suggest the need for an organized and concerted public health approach to the prevention of ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis that includes public and provider education and outreach.

The current complexities around the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme suggest a growing need for primary prevention.

These guidelines include symptoms, treatment, Lyme disease complicated by coinfection with other tick-borne pathogens and more. The authors encourage prevention of tick bites, using insect repellents with DEET or other EPA registered active ingredients.).