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Volume: 5
Issue: 02
Date: 18-Feb-97


Table of Contents:

I.    LYMENET: U.S. Army Lyme Disease Risk Assessments Available
II.   LYMENET: European Union Concerted Action on Lyme
      borreliosis Web Site Now Available
III.  J PARASITOL: Unusual strain of Borrelia burgdorferi
      isolated from Ixodes dentatus in central Georgia.
IV.   J PARASITOL: Lyme borreliosis in the southern United  
      States: a review.
V.    CLIN PEDIATR: Environmental and life-style risk factors
      for Lyme disease in children.
VI.   About The LymeNet Newsletter


Newsletter:

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*                  The National Lyme Disease Network                  *
*                         LymeNet Newsletter                          *
***********************************************************************


IDX#                Volume 5 / Number 02 / 18-FEB-97
IDX#                            INDEX
IDX#
IDX#  I.    LYMENET: U.S. Army Lyme Disease Risk Assessments Available
IDX#  II.   LYMENET: European Union Concerted Action on Lyme
IDX#        borreliosis Web Site Now Available
IDX#  III.  J PARASITOL: Unusual strain of Borrelia burgdorferi
IDX#        isolated from Ixodes dentatus in central Georgia.
IDX#  IV.   J PARASITOL: Lyme borreliosis in the southern United  
IDX#        States: a review.
IDX#  V.    CLIN PEDIATR: Environmental and life-style risk factors
IDX#        for Lyme disease in children.
IDX#  VI.   About The LymeNet Newsletter
IDX#



EDITOR'S NOTE: In LymeNet Newsletter Volume 5, Number 01, we
informed you of the 10th Annual International Conference on Lyme
Disease & other Tick-borne Disorders, to be held in Bethesda, MD.
The date of the event was not noted.  The conference will take
place on April 28, 29 and 30.  We apologize for the omission.
For more information, please contact the LDF at: [email protected] .



I.    LYMENET: U.S. Army Lyme Disease Risk Assessments Available
----------------------------------------------------------------
Sender: Art Doherty <[email protected]>


For many years, the U.S. Army has been conducting Lyme Disease Risk
Assessments (LDRAs) at various military installations throughout the
country.  Reports of these studies have been obtained via a Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) request and are being made available on the
Internet at:


             http://www.utech.net/users/10766/lyme.htm  

Also included at this web site is the original FOIA request letter,
the Army's reply, and summaries of all 170 assessment reports
obtained.  Although all the studies are not on the web site, many more
will be added in the near future.


An important aspect of these studies: If you live in an area local to
one of the facilities that has a risk for Lyme disease, your doctor
is not correct when he says, "You could not possibly have Lyme
disease, there is no Lyme disease in the area."



=====*=====


II.   LYMENET: European Union Concerted Action on Lyme borreliosis
     Web Site Now Available
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sender: Martin Smith <[email protected]>


A new site of possible interest can be found at:

         http://www.dis.strath.ac.uk/lymeeu/index.htm

The site consists of a review of Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease). It
includes summaries of the results of a three-year EU-funded research
project into the disease by fifty scientists from twenty countries.
Includes images, video clips, publications listing, local search
engine and prevention, diagnosis and treatment information.



=====*=====


III.  J PARASITOL: Unusual strain of Borrelia burgdorferi isolated
     from Ixodes dentatus in central Georgia.
------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Oliver JH Jr, Chandler FW Jr, James AM, Huey LO, Vogel GN
        Sanders FH Jr
ORGANIZATION: Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University,
             Statesboro 30460-8056.
REFERENCE: J Parasitol 1996 Dec;82(6):936-40
URL: http://search.lymenet.org/Abstracts/97128862.htm
ABSTRACT:


A new, unusual spirochete was cultured in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly
(BSK II) medium from the midgut and other tissues of the tick Ixodes
dentatus. The tick was collected from leaf litter in an oak-pine
wood lot in Bibb County approximately 7.2 km from Macon in central
Georgia during February 1993. Characterization by indirect
immunofluorescence using 5 murine monoclonal antibodies, by sodium
dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of whole
spirochetal lysates, and by polymerase chain reaction assay for
several known DNA target sequences indicates that the spirochete is
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. It is genetically different from the
B-31 reference strain of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto that is
typical of strains causing Lyme borreliosis in North America.
Range of infectivity and pathogenesis of the Bibb County isolate
(BC-1) are unknown but being investigated. The BC-1 strain is the
first B. burgdorferi isolate from I. dentatus in the southeastern
United States (I. dentatus is not the common vector for Lyme

borreliosis in humans). Additionally, the collection site was
approximately 322 km from the Atlantic coast, far distant from where
most B. burgdorferi isolates have been obtained.



=====*=====


IV.   J PARASITOL: Lyme borreliosis in the southern United States:
     a review.
------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Oliver JH Jr
ORGANIZATION: Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia
             Southern University, Statesboro 30460-8056.
REFERENCE: J Parasitol 1996 Dec;82(6):926-35
URL: http://search.lymenet.org/Abstracts/97128861.htm
ABSTRACT:


Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease) is the most often reported arthropod
transmitted disease in humans in the U.S.A. Although it has been
reported from 43 states, cases are especially abundant in the
mid-Atlantic and northeastern regions. Borrelia burgdorferi, the
etiologic agent, is transmitted primarily by the western blacklegged
tick (Ixodes pacificus) in far western North America, and by the
blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) in eastern North America.
Although Lyme disease cases have been reported from southern
states, some researchers doubt the presence of B. burgdorferi or of
human Lyme disease in the south. However, new data show that B.
burgdorferi is widely distributed in the south and that strains are
genetically more varied than in the north. Moreover, B. burgdorferi
enzootic cycles appear to be more complex and more tick species
are identified as vectors of the spirochete in the southern states.



=====*=====


V.    CLIN PEDIATR: Environmental and life-style risk factors for Lyme
     disease in children.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
AUTHORS: Klein JD, Eppes SC, Hunt P,
ORGANIZATION: Department of Pediatrics, Jefferson Medical College,
             Wilmington, Delaware.
REFERENCE: Clin Pediatr (Phila) 1996 Jul;35(7):359-63
URL: http://search.lymenet.org/Abstracts/96426727.htm
ABSTRACT:


Risk factors for Lyme disease and/or infection with Borrelia
burgdorferi in children are not defined. A case-control study was
performed using Lyme disease patients from our Lyme Clinic population.
Age- and sex-matched controls from the same neighborhood were
identified by the Lyme patients' families. A site visit was made to
each case/control neighborhood. Twenty-four environmental variables,
especially the ecologic characteristics of the home environment were
examined. Forty-five items were surveyed by parent questionnaire,
including certain "high-risk" activities and behaviors, whether ticks
or certain animals were present on the property, and whether antitick
measures were used. Control subjects had serologic assays for
antibodies to B. burgdorferi. Forty-four Lyme disease patients and
44 well-matched control subjects participated; 2 controls were
seropositive. Significant associations with Lyme disease were found
for deer ticks in the home environment, ground cover containing moist
humus, and leaf litter in the yard. Among the 45 items related to

life-style, there was no correlation with Lyme disease for the use
of any antitick measures or for any childhood activities; in fact,
an inverse correlation was observed for camping and fishing. We
conclude that conditions in the immediate home environment, including
certain ecologic factors that favor the presence of Ixodes ticks,
are associated with an increased risk for Lyme disease in children.



=====*=====


VI.   ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER
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         The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey
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