Best reply so far!!!! I needed a good laugh. :thumb:You sure it's not a sabre tooth crotch cricket?:
The American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis, is widely distributed east of the Rocky Mountains and also occurs on the Pacific Coast. The dog is the preferred host of the adult D. variabilis, although it readily feeds on many large mammals including man. The males and females have pale whitish or yellowish markings on the scutum or dorsal shield. Males may be only 1/8 inch long, while engorged females may be as much as ½ inch in length. This tick species is known to transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia.
Tularemia (also known as "rabbit fever", "deer-fly fever", "Ohara fever" and "Francis disease") is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. F. tularensis is a small gram-negative non-motile coccobacillus. The bacterium has several subspecies with varying degrees of virulence. The most important of those is F. tularensis tularensis (Type A), which is found in lagomorphs in North America and is highly virulent for humans and domestic rabbits. F. tularensis palaearctica (Type B) occurs mainly in aquatic rodents (beavers, muskrats) in North America and in hares and small rodents in northern Eurasia. It is less virulent for humans and rabbits. The primary vectors are ticks and deer flies, but the disease can also be spread through other arthropods. The disease is named after Tulare County, California.
Treatment and prevention
The drug of choice is Streptomycin. Tularemia may also be treated with gentamicin for ten days, tetracycline-class drugs such as doxycycline for 2-3 weeks, chloramphenicol or fluoroquinolones. An attenuated, live vaccine is available, but its use is restricted to high risk groups. Its use as post-exposure prophylaxis is not recommended.