Newswire reported on July 28, 2011 that researchers have discovered a new tick-borne bacterium that is infecting humans with ehrlichiosis. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic conducted DNA testing to find the new strain of bacteria which has not yet been named. So far the bacterium has only been found in deer ticks (black legged ticks), and only in Wisconsin and Minnesota. To date, 25 people have been affected by the tick-borne bacterium, although doctors suspect that many more people were infected and misdiagnosed or unreported as having the illness.
Because of this new discovery, thousands of blood samples and tick specimens have been submitted from across the United States to the Mayo Clinic for examination to see if the same problem is occurring in other states. To date only Minnesota and Wisconsin ticks have been affected.
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Please check back on Friday for the conclusion.