The deer-Lyme disconnect.

[Snowleopard]

The Boston Globe has an interesting article on Lyme disease and deer.

But the idea that deer are the main culprit in the spread of Lyme disease is far from an established fact, according to scientists who study the problem. And the link between hunting and controlling the disease is even more tenuous.
...
“Deer tick is a discredited, incorrect, obsolete name,” says Ostfeld. “But as long as you’re calling it the deer tick, what animal are you going to accuse of fostering it?” In his book, Ostfeld analyzes more than a dozen studies comparing deer numbers with tick numbers. In most, deer were either eradicated or nearly eradicated in the area being studied. Overall, the results were startling.

In the first study, done on Great Island, Cape Cod, beginning in 1982, a reduction in the deer herd from at least 30 to less than 10 not only didn’t decrease the number of larval and nymphal ticks scientists found on the white-footed mice they collected, but seemed to increase them. It wasn’t until the herd was down to a lone doe that the number of ticks on the mice decreased significantly. At Crane Reservation in Ipswich, after the deer population was reduced from 350 in 1985 to 50 in 1991, larval and nymphal tick numbers did decline – but soon increased again to pre-hunt levels, “despite the vastly reduced deer density,” says Ostfeld.

Overall, the studies on deer hunting and Lyme are mixed. On islands where there are few mammal species, deer eradication has sometimes worked in eliminating the ticks. But, deer hunting is not going to be a panacea for Lyme disease.
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/05/08/why_new_hunting_programs_arent_going_to_check_the_ spread_of_lyme_disease/?page=full

The article is behind boston.com's partial paywall, so if you can't reach it try googling "The deer-Lyme disconnect"

[Pedaling Fool]

Deer still need to be hunted, way too many. However, I'm in 100% agreement that what we think we know about Lyme disease is way off reality. If it were only so simple.

[Reid]

I like how they made that comment about hunting bringing the state money in the form of fee's. If you've never had a problem with your local game warden than I can promise you that you don't want one. They aren't like cops or judges. GW's will take your house, cars, or anything they feel is applicable and not even blink. I was told that deer are not the host but that deer are usually the ones who spread the ticks themselves out because they cover alot of ground and there is more human contact with deer than other game because of the hunting.

[Snowleopard]

Reid, I think the money/fees they're talking about are for special hunting permits not fines for breaking game laws. A lot of cities and towns in Mass. are densely populated and don't allow hunting at all. Some of them have hired professional hunters for reducing the deer population.

Unfortunately, the ecology of Lyme disease is complex and not completely understood; there aren't any easy solutions. There appear to be other hosts. Deer hunting might be part of the solution, but there needs to be a big reduction of the deer population to have much effect on Lyme -- probably you need reduce the deer population by 80 or 90% to reduce Lyme. The typical suburban environment in Southern New England is the combination of forest and grass that deer love.

[Panzer1]

"deer tick" is just a name. Deer ticks can live on any mammal including you.

Panzer

[Snowleopard]

"deer tick" is just a name. Deer ticks can live on any mammal including you.
Panzer1 says it better than I did.
A post on VFTT that has an interesting, but technical take, is: http://viewsfromthetop.com/forums/showpost.php?p=345847&postcount=5
In short, environmental problems such as habitat fragmentation results in decreased biodiversity in the small mammal population which leads to more ticks infected.

[Reid]

I knew what they were saying it was just the first thing popped in my mind when they talked of fee's and inevitably there will be those types of fee's that goes with people breaking any laws involving guns. And alot of them. And at a high price. I heard nearly everyone in Jamestown was effected by it in one way or another.

[Reishi]

A good book to understand Lyme is by Stephen Buhner "Healing Lyme". He points out that even if the deer population is eliminated the ticks will find a different mammal to live on in their adult life (they like bigger mammals in the adult stage). In the book he mentions that some islands that do not have deer still have a terrible tick problem. They will live on large rodents and other things that size if they cant get to larger mammals.

[Snowleopard]

A good book to understand Lyme is by Stephen Buhner "Healing Lyme". He points out that even if the deer population is eliminated the ticks will find a different mammal to live on in their adult life (they like bigger mammals in the adult stage). In the book he mentions that some islands that do not have deer still have a terrible tick problem. They will live on large rodents and other things that size if they cant get to larger mammals.
Yes, the author's info on the ecology of Lyme seems correct. But, I'm suspicious of somebody that proposes herbal treatments for a disease like Lyme. Using untested medications is dangerous even if they are herbal; their safety and their efficacy have not been tested.

[Reishi]

Yes, the author's info on the ecology of Lyme seems correct. But, I'm suspicious of somebody that proposes herbal treatments for a disease like Lyme. Using untested medications is dangerous even if they are herbal; their safety and their efficacy have not been tested.
The author did his research and his protocol has helped MANY people. The main thing that interests me is how to greatly reduce your chance of getting Lyme. For instance, if you take astragalus (a high quality extract) it increases interferon-gamma and interleukin-2 levels (which are suppressed from the ticks saliva). That has been shown in mice to greatly reduce the chance of contracting Lyme from an infected tick.

Anyway you cant fault the man for doing his research and helping people. The references section in the back is vast (to scientific studies). He is not making this data up.

[Reishi]

Also he recommends if you have Lyme to take anti biotics in conjuction with the herbal protocol.

[Pedaling Fool]

It seems this article may support the OP's link about the Deer-Lyme disconnect. Bring back the wolves and lions :D

http://news.yahoo.com/missing-foxes-fuel-lyme-disease-spread-190344044.html
Missing Foxes Fuel Lyme Disease Spread




As coyotes take over their ranges in North America, red fox populations are plummeting, and researchers have found one surprising result: The drop is fueling the spread of Lyme disease.

Lyme disease cases (http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/2203-lyme-disease-risk-map.html) have increased enormously in recent years: From 1997 to 2007, the number of cases increased by 380 percent in Minnesota, 280 percent in Wisconsin and 1,300 percent in Virginia.

Researchers used to think the increases were due to increasing deer populations, since deer are an important host to the disease-causing bacteria. However, the new data show these increases were independent of deer population levels.

"Increases in Lyme disease in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States over the past three decades are frequently uncorrelated with deer abundance and instead coincide with a range-wide decline of a key small-mammal predator, the red fox, likely due to expansion of coyote (http://www.livescience.com/4874-coyotes-thrive-eastern.html) populations," the researchers write today (June 18) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We found that where there once was an abundance of red foxes, there is now an abundance of coyotes," said study researcher Taal Levi, who completed the study as a part of his graduate work at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Tick troubles

Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria spread by ticks. The ticks pick up the bacteria from infected mice or deer, and if they bite a human, we can get the disease too. If caught early, it can be treated with antibiotics to kill the bacteria.

Lyme disease progresses (http://www.myhealthnewsdaily.com/384-lyme-disease-symptoms-treatment-diagnosis.html) in three stages: The first causes itching, chills, fever and headache for the first few weeks; second, an infected person starts having muscle pain and joint aches; third, these muscle and joint issues can continue for years after the initial infection, causing abnormal movement, weakness and speech problems.

Levi and his colleagues studied data from five states, and used this information to make mathematical models of the disease's spread. In their models, the researchers saw that the loss of the red foxes would result in an increase in Lyme disease, even with deer populations remaining steady.

Coyote complications

The red fox feeds (http://www.livescience.com/12436-wily-fox-clever-hunting-tricks.html) on small mammals such as mice, shrews and chipmunks, animals that, like deer, can play host to the Lyme-disease-carrying ticks. As the red fox population declines, as it has been for the past 30 years, researchers have seen increases in the populations of these small mammals.

And the researchers have reason to believe this change is in the works: The foxes have been outcompeted by growing populations of coyotes in the regions, which are becoming the top predators in areas where mountain lions and wolves have gone extinct (http://www.livescience.com/1865-coyotes-cower-wolf-territory.html). The coyotes are more dangerous to the foxes, lowering their numbers, the researchers said.

"A new top predator has entered the Northeast and has strong impact on the ecosystem," Levi said in a statement. Coyotes can and will kill foxes and more significantly, he said, "foxes often don't build dens when coyotes are around."

[imscotty]

To add to the confusing mix.... There is evidence that the invasive plant Barberry is also tied to increased incidence of Lyme Disease.

http://www.theday.com/article/20110620/NWS01/306209953/-1/NWS