The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) announced that the state’s active tick surveillance system has discovered the first tick in the state to test positive for Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis (EME), a bacteria transmitted by blacklegged tick bites that can cause human ehrlichiosis, a severe disease that can cause complications if not treated quickly. IDPH’s Vector Control Program is warning healthcare providers in Northern Illinois to be aware and on the lookout for ehrlichiosis, caused by EME. Ehrlichiosis can be easily treated with antibiotics, typically doxycycline, but can cause severe illness if left untreated.
The blacklegged tick, also called a deer tick, was collected on May 17 by Lake County Health Department staff who receive funding through IDPH’s Environmental Health Tick Surveillance Grant program. The tick was recently tested and confirmed positive for EME by the CDC. Along with ehrlichiosis, ticks submitted by IDPH to CDC are tested for several diseases of human-health importance, including Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and Borrelia miyamotoi disease.
The disease was first discovered in an Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, resident in 2009. All known human cases of EME have occurred in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In Illinois, ehrlichiosis is primarily seen in Southern Illinois and spread through the bites of infected Lone star ticks. With the Lake County discovery, a second tick species is now known to spread ehrlichiosis in Illinois. Infected adult and young blacklegged ticks can spread EME to people. Blacklegged ticks are commonly found in areas with woods, brush, leaf litter, and tall grass. Adult blacklegged ticks are active from October-December and any winter day above freezing…