What To Do If You Find a Tick

Ticktective Podcasts

Dan Wolff, aka "Tick Man Dan"

Dan Wolff “Tick Man Dan”, the founder and president of TickEase tweezers, the only patented, CDC-compliant, two-sided tweezer created expressly for removal of embedded ticks from people and pets.. He discusses his invention, what to do when you find a tick, ecology of ticks, and how Tony Fauci ended up at his bar mitzvah. Ticktective Video and Podcast Editor: Kiva Schweig.

Lyme With a Side—or Two—of Babesia: The Most Common Co-Infection that is Frequently Missed

Babesia parasites inside red blood cell

Written by: Wendy Adams, Research Grant Director & Advisory Board Member, Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you’ll have learned that tick-borne diseases are on the rise across the United States. Many theories exist as to why this is the case. However, most scientists that study ticks and their habitats agree that a combination of reasons—including climate change and human encroachment into tick habitats—are at least partially to blame.

Although Lyme disease (caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi) is the most common disease that humans acquire from tick bites, ticks can unfortunately transmit several other bacteria, viruses, and parasites to humans. Multiple infections can even be transmitted during the same bite. The confusing and overlapping disease symptoms caused by multiple infections makes it extremely difficult for doctors to recognize, diagnose and treat the different infections.

Calling All Scientists: Bay Area Lyme Foundation Now Accepting Applications for 2022 Emerging Leader Award

ELA winner Michael Rout

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Calling All Scientists: Bay Area Lyme Foundation Now Accepting Applications for 2022 Emerging Leader Award 

Grant aims to inspire new research for the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease

PORTOLA VALLEY, California, December 6, 2021—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, is announcing a call for entries for their 2022 Emerging Leader Awards (ELA), which recognize U.S. researchers from academia or the private sector who bring new approaches to the field of Lyme disease and embody the future of Lyme disease research leadership. At least two grants in the amount $100,000 each will be awarded. Proposals must have a defined scientific approach and rationale that can advance diagnostics or treatments for Lyme disease, and applicants are encouraged to bring innovative learnings from other therapeutic areas to their research projects. Applications will be accepted through March 15, 2022, at midnight Pacific Time. The full criteria and application for this grant award can be found here.

“The world is seeing firsthand the damage that infections can cause—both in acute and chronic forms. Just has COVID has encouraged collaboration, we hope that existing Lyme scientists as well as scientists from other disease areas will apply for this grant, offering new hypotheses and technologies to diagnose and treat Lyme and other tick-borne disease,” said Wendy Adams, research grant director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. 

Bay Area Lyme’s November 2021 Speaker Series Event: Bringing Hope and Support to Lyme Patients in San Diego

Bay Area Lyme San Diego Speaker Series

BAL Happenings Series

 

Why is the human immune system so complicated? Why are Lyme and tick-borne diseases so challenging for medical scientists to understand and for doctors to treat? And what is happening in the world of Lyme disease research that may offer hope to patients suffering from the effects of Lyme and TBDs on their continually assaulted immune systems?

On November 3, Bay Area Lyme Foundation and Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute jointly hosted an audience of physicians, scientists, patients, supporting family members, and medical providers in La Jolla, CA, to hear a panel of distinguished speakers address the subject of how the human immune system responds to the bacterial or viral assault of a tick-borne infection.

The San Diego event was part of Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s ongoing Distinguished Speaker Series. The Speaker Series format brings together a panel of distinguished individuals, typically including a researcher, a physician, and a Lyme patient advocate. By giving varied perspectives on topics relevant to Lyme and tick-borne diseases (TBDs), Bay Area Lyme provides a platform for the discussion of new scientific discoveries and other developments relevant to Lyme. The series also fosters community-building for patients seeking answers to the challenges of this debilitating disease.

Part of this session’s discussion explored the frustration experienced by countless Lyme patients that most medical providers and physicians are so poorly educated regarding Lyme and TBDs. “They don’t test for all types of TBDs, don’t agree on treatments, aren’t trained to recognize or treat heart problems caused by TBDs, and over-prescribe powerful immune suppressants which can be deadly for TBD patients,” criticized David Haney, PhD, biochemist, patient advocate and panelist. “San Diego physicians are under the mistaken impression that there is no Lyme disease in California, but it has been established in the state since the 1970s. People also travel, and a tick-borne infection is more than just Borrelia burgdorferi. This has been proven in multiple studies,” he added. “Academic studies show that Babesia duncani and several species of tick-borne Borrelia are more prevalent in the West than the East.”

Traditional healthcare needs to learn to diagnose and treat tick-borne diseases,

– David Haney, PhD

Citizen Scientist Study Fuels Launch of First Series of Interactive U.S. County Maps of Ticks Carrying Diseases

Citizen Science Tick Testing Maps

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Citizen Scientist Study Fuels Launch of First Series of Interactive U.S. County Maps of Ticks Carrying Diseases

– Study finds ticks carrying disease-causing bacteria in 116 counties where they have not been previously documented by CDC –

PORTOLA VALLEY, CA, October 20, 2021—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading nonprofit funder of innovative Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the launch of interactive national tick maps of U.S. counties based on data published in mSphere, a multidisciplinary open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The new data identify Ixodes ticks carrying disease-causing pathogens in 116 counties which were not previously identified by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). 

“The area known to harbor disease-carrying ticks continues to expand, and we hope people across the US will use these interactive maps to learn more about the risks for their hometowns, their family’s residences and vacation spots,” said Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. “The citizen scientists contributing to this study allowed the country’s collective tick knowledge to advance further than even the CDC could do at this time. Gaining the support of citizen scientists allowed us to collect from many counties across the country where ticks are not usually collected and tested, or they are not tested for these pathogens.”

Tick-borne Diseases, PANS/PANDAS and Resulting Pediatric Anxiety and Eating Disorders

Ticktective Podcast: a Bay Area Lyme Foundation Program

Daniel Kinderlehrer, MD

Daniel Kinderlehrer, MD is the author of Recovery from Lyme Disease: The Integrative Medicine Guide to the Diagnosis and Treatment of Tick-Borne Illness. He is also the author of several review articles in medical journals and the Lyme Times. Dr. Kinderlehrer attended Tufts Medical School and is an internal medicine physician. He co-founded the New England Center for Holistic Medicine and has a private integrative medicine practice in Denver, Colorado, where he treats patients with tick-borne illnesses. Ticktective Video and Podcast Editor: Kiva Schweig.

Gratitude of a Celebrity, Business Woman, Author, Wife and Mom

Ticktective Podcasts

Ally Hilfiger

Ally Hilfiger, film producer, fashion designer, businesswoman, reality TV star, daughter of fashion mogul Tommy Hilfiger, Lyme advocate, and author of the book “Bite Me” shares her personal experience with tick-borne diseases and her path to healing. Ticktective Video and Podcast Editor: Kiva Schweig.

Herbal Medicines Demonstrate Potency Against Bartonella, a Disease-causing Pathogen, According to New Lab Study

Herbal Medicines Demonstrate Potency Against Bartonella

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Tara DiMilia, 908-947-0500, tara.dimilia@TMstrat.com

Herbal Medicines Demonstrate Potency Against Bartonella, a Disease-causing Pathogen, According to New Lab Study

Three of these herbal medicines also have high potency against Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, and Babesia duncani, according to previous lab studies also funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation

PORTOLA VALLEY, CA, August 5, 2021—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the publication of new data showing that herbal medicines have potent activity in test tubes compared to pharmaceuticals commonly-prescribed for the treatment of Bartonella henselae, a bacterium believed  to be carried by ticks and the cause of cat scratch fever. This is the first study to find antimicrobial activity of some of these herbal medicines. Published in the journal Infectious Microbes & Diseases, the laboratory study was funded in part by the Bay Area Lyme Foundation.

“With increasing rates of tick-borne diseases and a consistent concern about the overuse of antibiotics, this early research of herbals is extremely exciting,” said Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. “We are hopeful that future pre-clinical and clinical studies will continue to show that herbals have the same effectiveness as this study and other recently-published studies.”

Our Most Recent Tick Ecology Studies and What We’ve Discovered

Ticktective Podcasts

Dan Salkeld, PhD

Dan Salkeld, PhD, Bay Area Lyme Scientific Advisory Board member, is a Research Scientist in the Department of Biology at Colorado State University, and tick researcher extraordinaire. He discusses the ecology and epidemiology of Lyme and other emerging tick-borne pathogens such as Borrelia miyamotoi. Ticktective Video and Podcast Editor: Kiva Schweig.

 

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Bay Area Lyme Foundation Partners with American Junior Golf Association to Provide Critical Education About Tick-borne Disease

Golfers are at high risk for Lyme disease

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Tara DiMilia, 908-947-0500, tara.dimilia@TMstrat.com

Bay Area Lyme Foundation Partners with American Junior Golf Association to Provide Critical Education About Tick-borne Disease

Golf is Estimated to Be Among the Highest Risk Sports for Contracting Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases

Portola Valley, CA, July 15, 2021 — Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, and the American Junior Golf Association have announced a new partnership aimed at educating young golfers about Lyme disease and providing tips for preventing tick bites. For this partnership, Bay Area Lyme Foundation will provide prevention materials, tick removal keys, Tick Tock Naturals® organic tick repellent and Sawyer® picaridin lotion to all AJGA members. In addition, Bay Area Lyme Foundation will become a Leadership Links charity partner, and two tournaments will be named for the Foundation by the end of 2023.

“As former AJGA and Harvard Division 1 golfers, my brother and I wish we had been educated on the risks associated with Lyme disease and the prevalence of ticks throughout the U.S., and ways to prevent being bitten,” said Nina Fairbairn (AJGA ’13, Harvard ’17), an investment partner who volunteers for Bay Area Lyme Foundation as an Advisory Board member and is spearheading this partnership for the Foundation. “Few golfers seem aware of the risks and even fewer take precautions, and it’s imperative for us to change this.”

Golf courses are a hotbed for ticks that can carry Lyme disease. Ticks flourish in areas between woods and open spaces, which is the exact terrain of golf courses, and live on the small forest animals that often occupy golf courses. Lyme disease is the most common vector borne illness in the United States with at least 476,000 new cases each year.