Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever News and Research

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Researchers design educational course to inform practitioners on current ranges of ticks and disease risk

Anyone who enjoys taking walks through the woods or grassy fields when the weather is warm knows that checking for ticks afterward is a must.

3 Jan 2023

Prescribed fire could play a role in reducing the abundance of ticks and pathogen transmission

Prescribed fire -; a tool increasingly used by forest managers and landowners to combat invasive species, improve wildlife habitat and restore ecosystem health -; also could play a role in reducing the abundance of ticks and the transmission of disease pathogens they carry, according to a team of scientists.

24 Oct 2022

Study provides key insights into the spread of Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Findings from a new study are providing important insights into the spread of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which is transmitted from dogs to people through ticks. The new data are being used to create models that could help predict, and possibly prevent, future outbreaks.

5 Apr 2022

The ER charged him $6,500 for six stitches. No wonder his critically ill wife avoided the ER.

Jason and DeeAnn Dean recently relocated to her hometown of Dellrose, Tennessee, where she grew up on a farm. Both in their late 40s, they're trying to start a green dream business that combines organic farming with a health and wellness consulting company.

19 Nov 2021

New sensitive marker may enable early diagnosis, treatment of spotted fever rickettsioses

Rickettsiae are bacteria that cause severe, potentially lethal human infections, including Mediterranean spotted fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

16 Jan 2020

NIH awards new contract to integrate pathogen and vector genomics database

A team led by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and University of Georgia provides thousands of researchers around the world with access to the Eukaryotic Pathogen Genomics Database (EuPathDB.org), a collection of resources for analyzing large-scale datasets associated with microbial pathogens.

16 Oct 2019

Ticks now carrying multiple diseases, says new study

A new study published in the journal mBio reports that ticks carry many more disease-causing agents than just those responsible for causing Lyme disease.

17 Sep 2019

Sequencing data could be used to prevent lyme disease

Researchers have successfully sequenced the genome of the animal that could carry the bacteria causing Lyme disease.

25 Jul 2019

Starved ticks try harder to find hosts

Ticks are hardy little brutes that can go as long as a year without a meal. Now scientists at the University of Cincinnati say the hungrier ticks are, the harder they try to find you or other hosts. The findings could have implications for the spread of tick-borne disease such as Lyme or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

21 Nov 2018

New blood test shows promise to revolutionize diagnosis of tick-borne diseases

A new blood test called the Tick-Borne Disease Serochip (TBD Serochip) promises to revolutionize the diagnosis of tick-borne disease by offering a single test to identify and distinguish between Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease, and seven other tick-borne pathogens.

18 Feb 2018

Few tips to remove a tick and prevent future bites

As tick populations grow and spread across the country, their prevalence is increasing the public's risk for some troubling diseases. Of these diseases, say dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan virus and alpha-gal syndrome- a mysterious red meat allergy- are among the most serious.

19 Sep 2017

New research helps unravel ecological interplay of African bat, novel virus and a parasite

If there is anything scientists are certain of when it comes to bats and their supposed role in causing human disease, it is that they still have a lot to learn.

13 Jul 2017

Researchers decode how ingenious tick immune system fights myriad of microbes

Everyone agrees that ticks are exceedingly nasty creatures. For hundreds of millions of years, they have survived on Earth by sucking blood from their victims for days, often leaving behind terrible diseases as a thank-you note.

14 Feb 2017

Infections with Lone star ticks appear to be surging but deaths are not, new study reveals

A mild disease spread by the aggressive Lone star tick that is now colonizing large swaths of the United States is being mistaken for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, according to a new study from scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

28 Oct 2015

Skin rashes and fever in adults could signal life-threatening conditions

Adults with skin rashes accompanied by a fever of 100.5 or higher warrant a trip to the emergency room because the combination of symptoms can be associated with several life-threatening conditions, according to the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians.

6 Oct 2015

ESA supports implementation of national strategy to control tick-borne diseases

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) recently released a statement supporting the creation and implementation of a national strategy using Integrated Tick Management to better control tick populations and reduce the rapidly escalating impact of tick-borne diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, and Lyme disease.

11 Aug 2015

Southern Indiana to be oasis free from Lyme disease, finds Indiana University researcher

Over nearly 15 years spent studying ticks, Indiana University's Keith Clay has found southern Indiana to be an oasis free from Lyme disease, the condition most associated with these arachnids that are the second most common parasitic disease vector on Earth.

11 May 2015

New UM SOM study uncovers never-before-seen illness transmitted by ticks

Tick-borne diseases are a major public health problem around the world. Ticks carry and transmit a variety of microbes that cause disease. These illnesses, which include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Tularemia, can cause a variety of symptoms, often serious and sometimes deadly.

23 Apr 2015

Lyme disease bacteria older than human race, says study

Lyme disease is a stealthy, often misdiagnosed disease that was only recognized about 40 years ago, but new discoveries of ticks fossilized in amber show that the bacteria which cause it may have been lurking around for 15 million years - long before any humans walked on Earth.

30 May 2014