US : Rabies victim remains in critical condition

Via Cape Cod Times :

" A Barnstable man infected with rabies two weeks ago remains in stable but critical condition at a Boston hospital, according to Barnstable Health Director Thomas McKean.

The unidentified man in his 60s has been put into a coma-like state and is expected to remain there for several weeks, McKean said.

Last week, state health officials confirmed the man was bitten by a species of myotis bat, a small, brown mammal common in the state.

It's the first confirmed case of rabies in Massachusetts since 1935.

The man is also the fourth confirmed human infected by the rabies virus in the U.S. in 2011, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The man's wife was given the rabies vaccine last week as a precaution. She has been released from the hospital and is staying with friends, McKean said."

US : Lyme isn't the only risk from ticks

Via Cape Cod Times :

" When Susan Finnegan didn't get better after being treated for Lyme disease, the Brewster woman knew something else was going on.

She experienced "extreme fatigue," burning pains, fevers, chills, sweats and shortness of breath.
"You feel like you can never breathe in enough air," Finnegan remembered.

Further testing revealed she had acquired a malaria-like illness called babesiosis.

It was transmitted by the same type of insect that had given her Lyme disease — the deer tick.

Babesiosis is one of several tick-borne illnesses afflicting residents of the Cape and Islands.

Although small in number compared to the 4,000 Lyme disease cases diagnosed in Massachusetts annually, cases of babesiosis are increasing rapidly, and nearly half of them occur in Barnstable County.

There were 51 cases of babesiosis reported in Massachusetts in 2008, a 34 percent increase over the year before, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Barnstable County accounted for 25 cases and Dukes and Nantucket counties together had six cases."