Via Yle Uutiset: Domestic ticks now carry even more pathogens. Excerpt:
Turku University researchers have discovered additional dangerous bacteria on ticks found in southwest Finland. In addition to the already-familiar Borrellia bacteria behind Lyme disease and the virus that causes TBE encephalitis, the scientists also found traces of Rikettsia and Anaplasma bacteria never observed before in Finland.
The two new strains of bacteria are however familiar. Jari Hänninen of the University of Turku’s Archipelago Research Institute says the find didn’t come unexpected, as the bacteria were already found in several of Finland’s neighbouring countries.
“One of the Rikettsia diseases is typhus, an epidemic of which brought Napoleon’s army to its knees,” he says.
Rikettsia is transmitted to humans via external parasites like lice, fleas or ticks and are the pathogen responsible for typhus and spotted fever.
