Tick-Borne Diseases: Identification, Management and Prevention

Abstract

Tick borne diseases have become a public health crisis in endemic areas of the world. It is important for health care professionals to be aware of the clinical manifestations of tick borne diseases, and recommended practices for their diagnosis and treatment. It is also important to educate the public on signs of disease and how to mitigate exposure. An understanding about the life cycle of ticks and the interplay of the environment is also crucial to reduce morbidity and mortality. This article presents the most common tick borne diseases of hard bodied ticks in the United States which are transmitted by: deer tick: Ixodes scapularis and pacificus, dog tick: Amblyomma americium and lone star tick: Dermacentor variabilis. Diseases from infected ticks (bacterial, parasitic and viral) include Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, Powassan virus (POW virus) and Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness (STARI). There is increasing concern with new and emerging strains of other tick borne diseases such as Borrelia miyamotoi.