This little guy, a Lone Star tick (Amblyomma americanum), carrying the bacterium
Ehrlichia chaffeensis, has pretty much ruined my summer so far. I was in Northwest Arkansas (Fayetteville) in June for a family reunion, returning June 19. About a week later, it hit me. Fever, malaise, no appetite. All I could do was sleep, which I
did day and night for days. Twelve hours in the Kaiser Richmond ER during the first week, found nothing, but blood samples were taken that began the hunt for a cause.
I had MRIs, CT scans, brain scans, chest x-rays, EKGs, endless poking and prodding, (52 tests to be exact) but they all had normal or unremarkable results.
Two more days in Kaiser Oakland Hospital earlier this week resulted in more follow-up blood samples, and the evidence was beginning to point at a tick-borne bacterium, yet to be identified. They
started me on the antibiotic, Doxycycline. Finally, on July 12, they nailed it.
Ehrlichia chaffeensis.
It is ironic that the “chaffeensis” in “Ehrlichia chaffeensis” comes from Fort “Chaffee,” which is about 50 miles south of Fayetteville, the city where I grew up and where I presumably
contracted Ehrlichia chaffeensis. Ehrlichia chaffeensis was first identified at Fort Chaffee in 1986.
It has been pretty much a lost three weeks so far, but with treatment, I am improving. They are telling me to expect 4-8 weeks for a full recovery. I am starting to do some work when I feel like
it.
For more information on, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrlichia_chaffeensis?fbclid=IwZnRzaATHEFRwZG9mA2ZkaWQWUKtSkJwTu7h2ws-Rcc-WxY–VoNpKmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7opMwErXOIqOoj9piL3ADm99mZ5l59GunFxsYkGdssZb8fFwT40TD0qCJhdA_aem_sbTDdeRxpeki47NIfp_sIQ.
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