What To Know About Rare Tick-Borne Disease Found In Providence

Most children and adults are familiar with ticks — tiny parasitic arachnids that suck on a host’s blood and often transmit diseases. Humans and animals typically pick up ticks when walking through forests, tall grasses or brush.

While ticks are infamously known for spreading Lyme disease, a Rhode Island resident contracted the rare Powassan virus from a tick in June 2021. Here’s what you need to know about common and rare tick-borne illnesses in Providence, as well as how to prevent them.

What Diseases Are Commonly Carried By Ticks?

Ticks are native to the state of Rhode Island, which has a high rate of tick-borne diseases – primarily Lyme disease. While it does not have as high a burden of infections as neighboring states, Rhode Island has a high rate of infections because of the increase in its deer and mice population, as well as humans interacting in tick-populated areas. The most common type of tick in the state is the Ixodes tick, which carries and spreads the three most common tick-borne diseases: borrelioses (Lyme disease), anaplasmosis and babesiosis.
Lyme disease is the most common type of infection caused by a tick. It is a bacterial infection that is transmitted to a human through a tick bite. Symptoms of Lyme disease include a rash at the site of the bite, headache, fatigue, and fever.

Lyme disease can be treated through the use of antibiotics, prescribed by a doctor. When the infection is treated in its early stages, a person's recovery is usually quick with few lingering effects. If Lyme disease goes untreated, the infection will cause joint pain, dizziness and, in some cases, heart and muscle issues.

Babesiosis is a tick infection that infects a person's red blood cells. People tend to show very mild symptoms, which could include a fever or chills. Anaplasmosis, or HGA, is an infection that attacks a person's white blood cells. If a person is infected with babesiosis or HGA, they can be treated with antibiotics and medication.

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Rare Tick-Borne Diseases In The Northeast

In addition to Lyme disease, there are other, rarer tick-borne diseases that can be transmitted in Rhode Island and the northeast.

• Tularemia. Tularemia is a rare bacterial disease that can infect both humans and animals. The disease is spread to humans through a bite from an infected tick, or after interacting with an animal that has been infected. Symptoms vary depending on how a person contracts the disease. Typically, they include skin sores or throat/intestinal pain if a person ate food or drank water contaminated with the bacteria. Once contracted, tularemia can be treated with antibiotics.
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Considered one of the most serious types of tick-borne disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a disease spread by the bite of an infected dog tick. Symptoms include a sudden onset of fever, severe headaches, deep muscle pain, and nausea and vomiting. RMSF can be treated with antibiotics; however, if the disease goes untreated, it can cause severe organ failure.
• Borrelia miyamotoi. Borrelia Miyamotoi is a bacterium spread through the bite of an infected black-legged (deer) tick. Because of the rarity of this type of infection, there is little information about the disease or how common it is in the New England area. The first human infections were diagnosed in 2011 with symptoms including fever, headache, and muscle aches. The infection can be treated with two weeks of antibiotics.
• Powassan virus. The Powassan virus is a rare and serious disease. It is spread by a bite from an infected deer tick, and humans who contract it have varying signs of illness. Some report not feeling ill, while others have serious cases of meningitis or encephalitis. There is no treatment for Powassan; instead, it’s recommended to have supportive care, rest, and fluids. There have been only four reported cases in Rhode Island over the past decade, the most recent infection present in an otherwise healthy 70 year-old-man.

What Is Powassan Virus?

Though a rare virus, cases of Powassan have been slowly increasing in the past number of years. There are two types of the Powassan virus: one found in ticks that typically feed on woodchucks, the other carried by black-legged ticks.

The virus is spread when an infected tick bites. While ticks need to attach themselves to humans for varying amounts of time to spread infection, evidence shows that the Powassan virus can spread from a tick to a person after only being attached for a short amount of time.

There have been approximately 100 cases of Powassan reported in the last 10 years, with most of the cases occurring in the Great Lakes and Northeast regions.

Symptoms of the Powassan virus vary case by case. Some people likely never feel ill, while others become severely ill. Other potential symptoms can include fever, headache, vomiting, fatigue, confusion, loss of coordination, and speech difficulties. If people experience symptoms, they begin to feel them between one week from infection to one month.
Currently, there is no one specific treatment for the Powassan virus. Those who are infected should rest and consistently drink fluids to prevent dehydration.

How To Prevent Tick-Borne Illnesses

There are many simple and easy ways for people to prevent tick-borne illnesses. Here are some precautions you can and should take when spending time outdoors:

Know Where To Expect Ticks

Ticks can typically be found in forests and wooded areas — anywhere that is grassy or brushy. When going to an area that could potentially house a large tick population, be sure to wear the proper clothing and check yourself afterward for bites or still-attached ticks.

Wear Proper Clothing

When hiking, camping, or visiting any area with the potential for ticks, wear clothing that covers and does not expose your skin. Tuck in pant legs to socks and sleeves to gloves so ticks cannot enter through the small bit of exposed skin on wrists and ankles. You can also treat your clothes with permethrin, an insecticide, to keep ticks away. When returning home, shed your clothes in a garage or entryway and wash them in their own load.

Check Your Body And Clothing For Ticks

If you do find a tick after visiting a known tick-infested area, remove it with a pair of tweezers, pulling up to make sure that its mouth does not break off into the skin.

Once it is removed, clean the bite area with alcohol or soap and water, and place the tick in a sealed bag. Keep the tick for a few days in case you develop a rash or fever, so you can show the doctor the type of tick to help better diagnose you.

What Should I Do If I’m Diagnosed With Lyme Disease Or Another Tick-Borne Illness?

If you are diagnosed with Lyme disease or another tick-borne illness, it's important to begin your treatment as early as possible. Depending on the type of tick-borne illness you have, treatments will vary. Here are some examples of how specific tick-borne illnesses may be treated.

Lyme disease: The sooner you treat Lyme disease, the quicker and easier your recovery will likely be. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated with two to four weeks of antibiotics. Here are some commonly prescribed medications for the treatment of Lyme disease:

• Tetracycline antibiotics (doxycycline)
• Penicillin antibiotics (amoxicillin)
• Cephalosporin antibiotics (cefuroxime axetil, Ceftin)

Chronic Lyme disease: In some cases, even those who are treated for Lyme disease continue to experience symptoms after the infection has been cured. This condition is called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, or chronic Lyme disease. Experts are unsure why the condition occurs, but researchers think it may resemble an autoimmune condition. There is no specific treatment for chronic Lyme disease, though most people will gradually improve over several months. It’s important for those who have been diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease to pay attention to their ongoing symptoms and raise any concerns to their medical provider.

Anaplasmosis, Borrelia miyamotoi and Rocky Mountain spotted fever: Doxycycline is typically prescribed for adults and children of all ages who are diagnosed.

Babesiosis: Those who are asymptomatic do not require treatment. For ill patients, Babeseosis is usually is treated for at least 7-10 days with a combination of two prescription medications:

• Atovaquone PLUS azithromycin; OR
• Clindamycin PLUS quinine (this combination is the standard of care for severely ill patients).

Tularemia: Antibiotics used to treat tularemia include streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, and ciprofloxacin. Treatment usually lasts 10 to 21 days depending on the stage of illness and the medication used.

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