CANINE BABESIOSIS IN THE UK
Dog owners warned of fatal tick-borne disease canine babesiosis which is likely to spread around UK By Lucy Clarke-Billings Professor Richard Wall, from the University of Bristol, said: “The recent Babesia cases in Essex are of huge significance. “The fact that we now appear to have established populations of the tick Dermacentor reticulatus acting as vectors of the introduced pathogen Babesia canis is a new and important development and a major concern for animal health.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12194796/Dog-owners-warned-of-fatal-tick-borne-disease-canine-babesiosis-which-is-likely-to-spread-around-UK.html Dog owners warned about new tick disease By Claire Marshall BBC Environment Correspondent Prof Richard Wall is professor of zoology at the University of Bristol. He is helping to conduct the largest ever veterinary study of ticks and tick-borne diseases, called the Big Tick Project. “People who work on ticks and tick-borne diseases are concerned about this outbreak. It could be the tip of the iceberg. If it spreads quickly throughout the UK then it is going to be a very significant problem, but we don’t have enough info at this stage to make a prediction about how quickly this will happen. “It’s highly unlikely that the problem will now disappear, we have the vectors, we have the pathogens established in the UK.”...CARDIAC TROPISM OF BORRELIA BURGDORFERI
An Autopsy Study of Sudden Cardiac Death Associated with Lyme Carditis The American Journal of Pathology – http://ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S0002-9440%2816%2900099-7/abstract Abstract Fatal Lyme carditis caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi rarely is identified. Here, we describe the pathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular findings of five case patients. These sudden cardiac deaths associated with Lyme carditis occurred from late summer to fall, ages ranged from young adult to late 40s, and four patients were men. Autopsy tissue samples were evaluated by light microscopy, Warthin-Starry stain, immunohistochemistry, and PCR for B. burgdorferi, and immunohistochemistry for complement components C4d and C9, CD3, CD79a, and decorin. Post-mortem blood was tested by serology. Interstitial lymphocytic pancarditis in a relatively characteristic road map distribution was present in all cases. Cardiomyocyte necrosis was minimal, T cells outnumbered B cells, plasma cells were prominent, and mild fibrosis was present. Spirochetes in the cardiac interstitium associated with collagen fibers and co-localized with decorin. Rare spirochetes were seen in the leptomeninges of two cases by immunohistochemistry. Spirochetes were not seen in other organs examined, and joint tissue was not available for evaluation. Although rare, sudden cardiac death caused by Lyme disease might be an under-recognized entity and is characterized by pancarditis and marked tropism of spirochetes for cardiac tissues. What might sudden cardiac death due to Lyme disease look like? Dr. Daniel Cameron discusses the findings of the above research on his All Things Lyme...BRAIN INFECTIONS SOLVE THE RIDDLE OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Review of Infectious Borrelia species Chronic Brain Infections and the Development of Alzheimer’s Disease from Alan MacDonald on Vimeo. This is a 37 minute video describing important research into Borrelia Chronic Brain Infections and the development of Alzheimer’s disease by Alan B. MacDonald,MD. Included in this lecture are select citations from the work of Dr. Judith Miklossy, MD,PhD,ScD, also connecting Chronic Spirochaetal Brain Infections, Borrelia species, and Oral Treponema Species of Spirochaetes with the development of future Alzheimer’s disease. The research tools used by Dr. Alan MacDonald includes: Culture of Fresh Autopsy Alzheimer’s Brain tissue with Positive recovery of Borrelia burgdorferi spirochaetes in Vitro ( 5 cases). The use of Borrelia burgdorferi Specific DNA probes to image single Borrelia spirochaetes, and to image Biofilm Communities of Borrelia Spirochaetes in Alzheimer’s Amyloid Plaques. Single Cortical Brain neurons with Granulovacuolar Degeneration ( GVB), and single Borrelia spirochaetes in brain tissue between the Plaques and the GVB lesions. Notably, Dr. MacDonald, calls to attention the role of Granular Borrelia as viable and virulent pathogens distinct from the Spiral Borrelia corkscrew shaped forms. The role of Round body Borrelia (cystic borrelia) in the evolution of Alzheimer’s disease, and the paramount role to biofilm communities of Borrelia in granular form as the actual nidus of the Amyloid Plaques seen in Alzheimer’s disease autopsy brain tissues. It was in 1986, that Dr Alan MacDonald first found and cultured Borrelia spirochaetes from Alzheimer’s brains. His findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=362744&resultClick=3 Links to further information regarding Dr MacDonald’s work can be found on his website –...BORRELIA AND ALZHEIMER’S
Researchers Identify Virus and Two Types of Bacteria as Major Causes of Alzheimer’s Neuroscience News March 9, 2016 ‘A worldwide team of senior scientists and clinicians have come together to produce an editorial which indicates that certain microbes – a specific virus and two specific types of bacteria – are major causes of Alzheimer’s Disease. Their paper, which has been published online in the highly regarded peer-reviewed journal, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, stresses the urgent need for further research – and more importantly, for clinical trials of anti-microbial and related agents to treat the disease.‘ The full article can be read – http://neurosciencenews.com/microbes-alzheimers-neurology-3826/ The original editorial can be found on ISO press Microbes and Alzheimer’s Disease http://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad160152 ‘We are researchers and clinicians working on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or related topics, and we write to express our concern that one particular aspect of the disease has been neglected, even though treatment based on it might slow or arrest AD progression. We refer to the many studies, mainly on humans, implicating specific microbes in the elderly brain, notably herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1), Chlamydia pneumoniae, and several types of spirochaete, in the etiology of AD [1–4]. Fungal infection of AD brain [5, 6] has also been described, as well as abnormal microbiota in AD patient blood [7]. The first observations of HSV1 in AD brain were reported almost three decades ago [8]. The ever-increasing number of these studies (now about 100 on HSV1 alone) warrants re-evaluation of the infection and AD concept. One of the authors is Prof Judith Miklossy who has published a number of papers on Borrelia and...Cancer Researcher Who Nearly Died of Lyme Discusses the Similarities Between the Two Diseases
Neil Spector, MD, author of Gone in a Heartbeat: A Physician’s Search for True Healing spoke at the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) annual conference. FT. LAUDERDALE, FL., October 15, 2015– Neil Spector, MD knows cancer. As a leading researcher, he led the development of two targeted cancer therapies which were FDA approved. He is currently the Sandra Coates Chair in Breast Cancer Research at Duke University. But in 2009, Dr. Spector faced his own mortality when a physician informed him he would die without a heart transplant. Dr. Spector’s heart had been destroyed by an undiagnosed case of Lyme disease. Dr. Spector discussed his experiences as an oncologist and Lyme disease survivor on Friday, October 16, 2015 at the ILADS conference held at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort in Fr. Lauderdale, Florida. His presentation was titled: How Lessons from Personalized Cancer Care Can Inform Management of Lyme Disease. Dr. Spector calls Lyme disease “the infectious disease equivalent of cancer.” Cancer is not one specific disease and neither is Lyme, says Spector. “We talk about Lyme Disease as if it is ONE disease caused by one uniform strain of Borrelia when we know there are at least 16 pathogenic strains of the bacteria that cause disease in the United States.” Spector notes both cancer cells and Borrelia burdoferi (the spirochete which causes Lyme disease) are equipped with mechanisms to resist therapeutic interventions. Both pathogens have a “sweet tooth,” says Spector, since each relies on glucose as a source of energy. Yet, while cancer specialists design personalized treatment plans for cancer patients, Lyme disease treatments are...
