Dear Editor:
RE: Public health keeping eye on five reportable diseases on the rise, Feb. 13.
Lilliana Marinko, manager of infectious diseases with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health, mentioned Lyme disease in her reportable disease report, but completely overlooked the fact that human babesiosis caused by Babesia odocoilei is a reportable disease.
The latter disease is caused by a red blood cell parasite that is carried by the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis. Our tick research shows that this zoonotic parasite is just as common as the Lyme disease bacteria in blacklegged ticks.
Our research team have found Babesia odocoilei in Centre Wellington, and in all provinces across Canada. This one-celled parasite is often a coinfection with the Lyme disease bacterium in Ixodes scapularis ticks.
One recent study revealed that the prevalence of the Lyme disease bacterium and Babesia odocoilei in Ixodes scapularis adults was 40% and 36%, respectively. Anyone bitten by a blacklegged tick should be tested for both these zoonotic pathogens.
Common symptoms of human babesiosis may include any combination of the following: perpetual fatigue, cognitive impairment, brain fog, headaches, muscle or joint aches, numbness in finger (especially at night), night sweats, unrelenting inflammation, anxiety and depression.
In the advance stage, patients may have symptoms that mimic dementia, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. Treatment for Lyme disease and human babesiosis caused by Babesia odocoilei are totally different.
Migratory songbirds are the key factor in spreading juvenile Ixodes scapularis and tick-borne zoonotic diseases. White-tailed deer are the common reservoir of Babesia odocoilei in this area.
Marinko has sidestepped human babesiosis caused by Babesia odocoilei, which is now medically recognized as a confirmed zoonosis.
John Scott,
Fergus