When people think of tick-borne infections, most think of Lyme disease, but public health officials are encouraging Iowans to be aware of several less common illnesses. The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reports one case of tularemia was recently reported in Iowa. Tularemia is a bacterial infection caused by F. tularensis, and can be transmitted to humans through several vectors, including bites from two ticks found in Iowa: the American Dog tick and lone star tick. Symptoms of tularemia infection vary depending on how the disease was contracted. The most common form of the disease causes skin ulcers with swollen lymph nodes, fever, chills, headache and exhaustion, and nearly all patients recover with proper treatment. Babesiosis, which is caused by the parasite, B. microti, is an infection of red bloods cells spread through bites from affected blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks. Not all patients show symptoms of babesiosis, but if they do, the most common are fever, chills, malaise, headaches and nausea. The disease was last reported in Iowa in 2017. For more information on tick-borne disease and how to prevent them, follow the link included with this story on our website.
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https://idph.iowa.gov/cade/vectorborne-illness#Tick-borne%20diseases.
