User:Marvin O'Neal/OspC: Difference between revisions
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== Lyme disease and Ecology == | == Lyme disease and Ecology == | ||
[[Image:Life cycle of tick.png| | [[Image:Life cycle of tick.png|150px|right|thumb|Life cycle of tick.[[http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/life_cycle_and_hosts.html]]]] | ||
The reported cases of Lyme disease are increasing annually in highly focused geographic locations of the United States. Thus, the abundance of infected ticks with ''B. burgdorferi'' in natural ecosystems is critical for the risk of human Lyme disease. In tick life cycle, the larval ticks are uninfected with ''B. burgdorferi''. However, ''B. burgdorferi'' infection begins while feeding on the blood of natural reservoir hosts such as mice, squirrels, shrews and other small vertebrates. Undergoing successive life stages, the infected nymphal ticks can transmit ''B. burgdorferi'' to incidental vertebrates, including humans. The ecological interaction between the competence of the reservoir hosts and the ticks is the underlying measure of human Lyme disease risk.<ref>PMID: 12525705</ref> | The reported cases of Lyme disease are increasing annually in highly focused geographic locations of the United States. Thus, the abundance of infected ticks with ''B. burgdorferi'' in natural ecosystems is critical for the risk of human Lyme disease. In tick life cycle, the larval ticks are uninfected with ''B. burgdorferi''. However, ''B. burgdorferi'' infection begins while feeding on the blood of natural reservoir hosts such as mice, squirrels, shrews and other small vertebrates. Undergoing successive life stages, the infected nymphal ticks can transmit ''B. burgdorferi'' to incidental vertebrates, including humans. The ecological interaction between the competence of the reservoir hosts and the ticks is the underlying measure of human Lyme disease risk.<ref>PMID: 12525705</ref> | ||
