Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis Fact Sheet
The Diseases and Transmission
- Ehrlichia and Anaplasma are related bacteria that are transmitted by ticks. These bacteria infect white blood cells in humans.
- There are three different bacteria that cause disease in humans:
|
Pathogen |
Ehrlichia Chaffeensis |
Ehrlichia ewingii |
Anaplasma Phagocytophilum
(formerly ehrlichichia phagocytophilia) |
|
Disease |
Human moncytic ehrlichiosis (HME) |
Ehrlichiosis ewingii |
Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA, formerly HGE) |
|
Tick Vector |
Amblyomma Americanum (lone start tick) |
Ixodes scapularis (black legged tick) |
|
Location |
Southeast and south central US |
Northeast and upper Midwest US |
- Animal reservoirs for E. chaffeensis and E. ewingii are white-tailed deer and dogs. The reservoirs for A. phagocytophilum include cattle, deer and rodents. You cannot get the diseases directly from animals.
- The diseases are not spread between humans other than through blood transfusions.
- Maryland is home to both the lone star tick and the black-legged tick.
Symptoms and Treatment
|
Disease |
Clinical Features |
|
HME,
Ehrlichiosis ewingii |
· Symptoms appear 1 to 2 weeks after a tick bite.
· Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, confusion, chills and malaise.
· Conjunctival infection (red eyes)
· Development of a rash may occur in up to 60% of children and Mountain spotted fever.
|
|
HGA |
· Symptoms appear 1 to 2 weeks after a tick bite.
· Symptoms include fever, headache, cough, nausea/abdominal pain, chills, malaise, confusion and muscle aches.
· Rash is rare
|
- Most infections occur when tick activity is highest, in late spring and summer.
- If left untreated, HME and HGA may be severe.
- Co-infection with more than one tickborne disease is possible.
- Persons with compromised immunity caused by immunosuppressive therapies (e.g., corticosteroids, cancer chemotherapy, or longterm immunosuppressive therapy following organ transplant), HIV infection, or splenectomy appear to develop more severe disease.
- Contact your health care provider if you develop any of these symptoms after a tick bite or after being in tick habitat. Your health care provider may order a blood test to help diagnose the disease.
- The diseases are effectively treated with antibiotics, most commonly doxycycline.
Prevention Tips
- Ticks are most active from late spring through early fall
- Insect repellent containing 20-30% DEET is receommended to prevent tick or fly bites.
- Repellents with up to 30% DEET can safely be used on children over 2 months of age.
- Treat clothes with permethrin (don't use permethrin directly on skin).
- Long pants and long sleeves help keep ticks off of skin, and tucking pant legs into socks and shirts into pants keeps ticks on outside of clothing.
- Light colored clothing lets you spot ticks more easily.
- Talk to your veterinarian about tick control products for your pets.
- When enjoying the outdoors, avoid wooded or brushy areas with tall grass and leaf litter and walk in the center of trails.
- Check yourself, your kids and your pets daily for ticks when spending time in tick habitat.
- Bathe or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors (within 2 hours) to wash off ticks.
- Tumble dry clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to kill ticks on dry clothes after you come indoors.
To Remove Ticks
- Use fine-tipped tweezers.
- Grab the tick close to the skin; do not twist or jerk the tick.
- Gently pull straight up until all parts of the tick are removed.
- Wash your hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based rub.
- Clean the site of the tick bite with soap and water or an antiseptic.
- Do not use petroleum jelly, a hot match, nail polish, or other products to remove ticks.
For more information on tick borne diseases, visit:
