Is Lyme Disease in KS & MO?

Are YOU at risk for Tick-born diseases?

• Tick-borne diseases are present in our community.

• Tick-borne diseases can be contracted at home, or when traveling for work or pleasure.

• People can pick up ticks at area parks, camps, golf courses, farms, and even backyards or ticks that hitch a ride into the home on pets

• An individual can become re-infected if bitten again at a later time by another infected tick

• More than one disease can be acquired from a single tick bite and co-infections make diagnosis and treatment more difficult

What are the common hosts for ticks in Kansas and Missouri?

• Ticks on migrating birds carry tick-borne diseases to new areas

• Lone star and deer tick nymphs (baby ticks) are very small, about the size of a poppy seed, and are often unnoticed

• Ticks feed on mammals, birds, and reptiles.

• Wild animals can be infected with tick-borne diseases without becoming ill, and they then serve as reservoirs to infect other ticks

• Chipmunks, rabbits, mice, and other small mammals are common reservoir hosts.  Reservoir hosts are animals that can maintain the infection without getting sick and can pass it on to ticks that bite them.

• Dogs, cats, and farm animals can become ill with tick-borne diseases.

What tick-borne diseases are found in Kansas and Missouri?

• Lyme Disease

• Master’s disease (similar to Lyme in rash, other symptoms, and treatment)

• STARI

• Babesia (strain MO-1 in Missouri)

• Bartonella

• Ehrlichiosis*

• Anaplasma

• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever*

• Other Rickettsial diseases (Spotted fever group Rickettsia, SFGR)

• Mycoplasma

• Tularemia*

• Q Fever

• Tick Paralysis

• Heartland virus

• Red meat allergy

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*Missouri is one of the leading states in reports of Ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Tularemia