A Case of Anaplasmosis during a Warm Minnesota Fall

Abstract

A healthy 33 year old male presented in December with a 3 week history of fever and fatigue. He had been deer-hunting in northern Minnesota 1 month prior and had sustained a tick bite. Extensive laboratory investigations and a lumbar puncture were conducted. He was empirically with doxycycline and had rapid improvement in his symptoms. Subsequently, PCR and serologic testing returned positive for Anaplasma phagocytophlium. Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum and is typically seen in the warmer months. This patient’s presentation in December was uncommon for a tick-borne illness in Minnesota. Regional weather records demonstrated unseasonably warm temperatures during the patient’s trip. Ixodes ticks are known to be sensitive to temperature and humidity, which likely contributed to increased tick activity, leading to disease transmission. This case highlights the importance for clinicians to be aware of local weather patterns and how this might influence seasonal disease presentations.

Determining the preferred attachment site of tick species endemic to New York State and the influence of pathogen infection on body-segment selection in the deer tick, Ixodes scapularis

“…Babesia microti causes babesiosis, a usually self-resolving febrile illness with anemia, although this can be severe and life threatening in immunocompromised and asplenic individuals [7,8]. Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection results in human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), a potentially severe illness with thrombocytopenia and leukocytopenia [9,10]. Borrelia miyamotoi has only recently been associated with human illness [11] and produces a long-term period of cyclic febrile illness with some Lyme-like symptoms [12,13].…”