Rocky Mountain spotted fever

[Mr._Graybeard]

My neighbor told me this afternoon that her partner was diagnosed with Rocky Mountain spotted fever. She said he got a COVID test when he developed a fever and began vomiting. He tested negative for COVID, but then the rash emerged.

He's an outdoorsy type, likes to hunt, but neighbor said that aside from walking in a woodlot another neighbor owns, he hadn't been out of their yard except to go to work.

Wisconsin is pretty far north for RMSF, according to the online sources I've consulted. The news got my attention because I pulled a feeding tick off my arm a week ago and found another one crawling on me a couple days later. Take care, outdoors-loving folks!

 

[Dreamer]

My sister had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever a few years back. They have homes in PA and VA. She was in VA at the time she became sick. She loves being outside and mowing grass. She was in the ICU for several days.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Yeah it sounded like the symptoms were pretty drastic, even for a relatively mild case. Ryan is at home now, so he didn't need a lengthy hospital stay.

This is the serious tick season up here. I know they're out year-round, but in the early to mid spring they seem particularly aggressive.

 

[eytonxav]

Wisconsin is pretty far north for RMSF, according to the online sources I've consulted. The news got my attention because I pulled a feeding tick off my arm a week ago and found another one crawling on me a couple days later. Take care, outdoors-loving folks!

Well at one time, they thought lyme disease was restricted to the North East, but it has spread to many parts of the country.

 

[24601NoMore]

Sorry to hear that - even though I've probably spent thousands (literally) of hours playing around in nature over the past 50+ years, I've never been bitten by a tick until about 2 weeks ago. We were out for a walk in a subdivision that they're still developing to avoid people during CV-19, and walked a few vacant lots. Never expected it and did not find the little bugger until ~40 hours later, chomping on my right flank. This was after 3 or 4 showers, multiple cardio exercise sessions and two nights sleep laying on that same side of my body, so no idea how he still hung on through all that.

Turned out to be an American Dog Tick, which carries Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Tularemia.

Scared the CRAP out of me, once I read what RMSF can do to you.

Fortunately, I didn't contract it - and the odds of getting RMSF from an American Dog Tick are like 1 in 1,000. But whoo boy what a nasty disease that sounds like..

We've never checked for ticks after being in the woods ever before, but sure are going to from this point out..

Hope your neighbors partner is OK. Nothing to mess with for sure..

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Well at one time, they thought lyme disease was restricted to the North East, but it has spread to many parts of the country.

Wisconsin has long been a Lyme hot spot too, although it's mostly confined to the range of the deer (blackleg) tick in the northern and western counties. My BiL had it some years back. I've read that the deer tick range is expanding in the state, along with other species.

In my region we mostly see the brown dog tick. In the past they weren't considered a disease vector, but now they're suspected as possibly being a carrier of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, according to the American Lyme Disease Foundation. Bad news, if so.

The main RMSF carrier in the East, the lone star tick, supposedly does not have any part of Wisconsin in its natural range. But it does get up into northern Illinois, and I don't suppose the state line means much to them.

 

[CaptTom]

In my region we mostly see the brown dog tick. In the past they weren't considered a disease vector, but now they're suspected as possibly being a carrier of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, according to the American Lyme Disease Foundation. Bad news, if so.

I can confirm that the brown dog tick can carry Lyme. My wife got bitten, got a textbook "bulls eye" rash and a confirmed case. We kept the tick in case the state wanted to test it. They didn't. Either they didn't believe us, or they already knew the dog tick is now a vector.

I got a less obvious rash from a deer tick just as Covid was hitting the fan. The doc prescribed antibiotics over the phone, so I never got tested. I never had any other symptoms.

I was able to crack some "Corona and Lyme" jokes, so it wasn't a total loss.

 

[Shredder]

We have a lot of brown dog ticks in the northern lower peninsula of michigan. It used to be rare to see them, but not anymore. I spray for them in our fenced in back yard (dogs) and generally avoid grassy fields until about august when they disappear until late may the following year.

We have deer ticks as well, but I don't think ive ever seen one.

A good friend got bit by a lone star tick at his daughters wedding in NC. He almost died from it, and even now, years later, has a rare form of arthritis caused by the tick. The whole episode dramatically affected his life.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Brown ticks have really multiplied in my area (west of Milwaukee) too. They used to be mostly in wooded, shaded areas, but I've had three try to latch into me so far this spring, and I've only been in open fields.

The other night I had my DW use a magnifying glass to examine a little bump I discovered on the back of my neck. It turned out to be a mole.

My neighbor Ryan seems to have bounced back pretty well after his tick bite, but as you say, the effects can linger, just like Lyme -- maybe worse. I feel fortunate that I have easy access to the outdoors during this episode of social distancing, but the ticks have taken a bit of the bloom off of that.