Blur your eyes and look through the picture.
Never having seen a tick or a rash, I’ve often suspected that some other biting insect may have been responsible for transmitting the disease to me. Granted, the poppy seed sized deer tick is so small that going undetected is likely.
Being fully aware of the Lyme threat in my community, I followed to a tee both the scientific community and the medical community’s advice so as to avoid the disease. This stated:
- Only the deer tick carries the disease, and only 30% of ticks are infected;
- If infected you will receive a bulls-eye rash and flu-like symptoms;
- The tick must be attached for at least 24 hours;
- A three week course of doxcycline will be more than enough to rid you of the disease.
After 20 years of suffering with this nightmare, I am pretty comfortable in saying that they were wrong on all accounts.
I am neither a medical professional nor a research scientist, but, I am a systems professional with over 30 years experience and 20 years of absorbing LD information. My forte is piecing together sporadic and disjointed facts and logically bringing it all together in a comprehensible fashion.
When we have the whole picture, we can then take a step back, blur our eyes and look through the picture to see the hidden truth.
What is it about the deer tick that enables it to be a Lyme bacteria (LD) vector and not other types of tick? And for that matter, why can’t other blood sucking parasites be LD vectors?
Several of my I.V. League colleagues, all chronic Lyme patients, claim they never saw a tick and some believe they contracted it from other insects. One such colleague insists that his entire family came down with flu-like symptoms following a trip to Lake George, NY. During this trip, the entire family was bitten incessantly by Biting Flies. Today several of his family members have LD.
The bottom line is that much is still to be learned about LD. So, until more definitive information is available, assume the worst and take extra care to protect yourself and your family.
From a letter by Dr. James Howenstine on this subject:
Transmission of the disease has been clearly documented after bites by fleas, mites, mosquitos and ticks. There is compelling evidence that Lyme disease (LD) can be spread by sexual and congenital transfer. One physician has cared for 5000 children with LD: 240 of these children were born with the disease. Dr. Charles Ray Jones, the leading pediatric specialist on Lyme Disease, has found 12 breastfed children who have developed LD. Miscarriage, premature births, stillbirths, birth defects, and transplacental infection of the fetus have all been reported. Studies at the University of Vienna have found Bb in urine and breast milk of LD mothers.
For the full letter: http://www.samento.com.ec/sciencelib/4lyme/Townsendhowens.html
Lyme Handbook 
From CANLYME:
Other LD carrying ticks: http://www.canlyme.com/BioOne_birds_disperse_ticks.html