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Study demonstrates the potency of herbal medicines against Bartonella henselae

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the publication of new data showing that herbal medicines have potent activity in test tubes compared to pharmaceuticals commonly-prescribed for the treatment of Bartonella henselae, a bacterium believed to be carried by ticks and the cause of cat scratch fever.

5 Aug 2021

SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission in the North American deer mouse

A recent study conducted in Canada reports that the North American deer mouse can be infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from humans.

23 Jun 2021

Could the European hedgehog be a sentinel for infectious agents and a harbinger of environmental pollution?

A recent review paper by Portuguese and Spanish authors, recently published in the journal Biologics, revealed the current state of knowledge regarding hedgehog health – most notably the presence of infectious agents, diseases and other threats that can affect the health of the population.

21 Jun 2021

UMD receives new funding to stop infection from Lyme disease pathogens before it begins

The University of Maryland received new funding from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation to develop novel therapeutic strategies that have the potential to stop infection from Lyme disease pathogens before it begins.

13 May 2021

Study observes increase in Lyme disease-causing ticks across California’s woodlands and beaches

US-based researchers – at Colorado State University and the Northern Arizona University – have discovered that disease-causing ticks are finding their way onto beachfront properties, including infestations in woodlands and beaches around North California.

28 Apr 2021

New technique could enable real-time distribution monitoring of ticks that carry Lyme disease

The findings of a recent analysis conducted by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that ecosystems suitable for harboring ticks that carry debilitating Lyme disease could be more widespread than previously thought in California, Oregon and Washington.

17 Mar 2021

Five herbal medicines show potent activity against Babesia duncani in the lab

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the publication of new data finding that five herbal medicines had potent activity compared to commonly-used antibiotics in test tubes against Babesia duncani, a malaria-like parasite found on the West Coast of the U.S. that causes the disease babesiosis.

9 Mar 2021

Study identifies bird species with the potential to spread Lyme disease

Birds play an underrecognized role in spreading tickborne disease due to their capacity for long-distance travel and tendency to split their time in different parts of the world - patterns that are shifting due to climate change.

27 Jan 2021

Certain malaria parasites use a mechanism to cross the blood–brain barrier

Malaria is one of the most common causes of death in children in Africa and is triggered by a small parasite that lives in the blood. When the parasite builds up in the blood vessels of the brain, it develops into one of the most dangerous forms of the disease, cerebral malaria.

27 Jan 2021

UMass Amherst epidemiologist receives NIH grant to develop new tick surveillance method

A University of Massachusetts Amherst infectious disease epidemiologist has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new surveillance method to better identify specific locations with the highest risk for tick-borne disease transmission.

25 Sep 2020

Researchers receive $1.9 million federal grant to find Lyme disease vaccine

Pesky, yet dangerous ticks are no longer latching exclusively onto hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. Milder winters and disrupted habitats have driven them out of the woods, with Lyme disease cases in the United States tripling since the late 1990s.

9 Sep 2020

Campylobacter infections among Danes increased by almost a fifth in 2019

In 2019, the number of registered campylobacter infections increased by almost a fifth and studies show that many of the campylobacter outbreaks recorded that year were caused by chicken meat.

3 Sep 2020

SARS-CoV-2 infection and transmission possible in North American deer mice

The current COVID-19 pandemic began as a zoonosis in China, at the end of 2019, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel betacoronavirus with significant similarity to an earlier virus of the same family.

11 Aug 2020

$5 million gift aims to propel Lyme disease research and education

To the Fairbairns, the symptoms--debilitating fatigue, joint pain, cognitive problems--were as worrisome as they were mystifying. All four members of the family had them.

6 Jul 2020

Discovery provides a potential target for infectious diseases immunotherapy

NIH investigators and colleagues have discovered that when the immune system first responds to infectious agents such as viruses or bacteria, a natural brake on the response prevents overactivation.

23 Jun 2020

Virginia Tech researcher wins $661,216 grant to study Lyme arthritis

With a $661,216 grant from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, Brandon Jutras, an assistant professor of biochemistry in the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, will study Lyme arthritis, including the cellular component that contributes to it.

22 May 2020

WSU researchers crack the Lyme disease code

The next time a tick feeds on you, Washington State University researchers hope to make sure persistent arthritis caused by Lyme disease doesn't linger for a lifetime.

30 Apr 2020

Researchers study how environmental factors affect pathogenic bacteria spread by ticks

Researchers at the University of Helsinki, the University of Zurich and the University of Exeter have carried out modelling on how environmental factors affect the occurrence of human-pathogenic bacteria found in the sheep tick (Ixodes ricinus), a tick species common in Europe.

19 Dec 2019

New paper-based test for early Lyme diagnosis

A new paper in the journal ACS Nano reports the development of an incredibly cheap and highly sensitive test to diagnose Lyme disease in its earliest stages, when it can be most easily, effectively and inexpensively treated.

18 Dec 2019

Paper-based blood test can quickly and sensitively diagnose early-stage Lyme disease

After a day hiking in the forest, the last thing a person wants to discover is a tick burrowing into their skin. Days after plucking off the bloodsucking insect, the hiker might develop a rash resembling a bull's-eye, a tell-tale sign of Lyme disease.

18 Dec 2019