Or...Search this site Home Symptoms Live Discussion Diagnosis Treatment Area Support Library Research Lymelinks Contact Pets & Lyme DONATIONS Drug Info Medical Dictionary Board of Directors      Click on the graphic to vote for this site as a Starting Point Hot Site. -- No Warranties or Representations The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections. The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website. Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease is suspect. en français For Physicians Ticks Coinfections Prevention Our Stories Click Here to order our free Lyme Disease Flyer,    Here for our free Lyme Disease Poster ..documents may be copied (to distribute) but edit only for alignment. http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/6782024.htm Posted on Tue, Sep. 16, 2003 Lyme disease plentiful in South, experts say Researchers find ticks that spread illness in S.C., Georgia JEFF NESMITH Cox News Service WASHINGTON - Although Lyme disease is seldom reported in the South, the disease and the ticks that carry it are plentiful in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, biologists said Monday. One scientist said he suspects many Lyme disease cases in the South go unreported because physicians do not recognize it. Caused by a bacteria related to the germs that cause syphilis and yaws, Lyme disease is the most common tick-spread illness in North America and Europe. In its early stages, it produces flu-like symptoms, including fever, headaches and joint pain. If not treated, it can cause arthritis and nerve or heart problems. It sometimes persists for several years. Lance Durden, a Georgia Southern University tick epidemiologist, said doctors in the South may not recognize cases of the disease because they are conditioned to believe it is restricted to the Northeast. That's where 85 percent of reported cases occur. Durden said he thinks that while the disease is more common in the Northeast, it is not nearly as rare in the South as was believed. He and other biologists from Georgia Southern, the Medical College of Georgia and Jacksonville State University in Florida reported that surveys on coastal islands and inland areas found "black-legged deer ticks" identical to those that spread the disease in New York and New England. The ticks were collected from grass and weeds and from trapped wood rats and mice, the biologists reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The ticks and the animals were infected by the germs that cause Lyme disease. Infection does not seem to bother the animals, according to the report.