Claim:  Opossums stop the spread of Lyme disease because they kill up to 4,000 ticks a week. 
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Lyme disease
text: Prevention includes efforts to prevent tick bites such as by wearing clothing to cover the arms and legs, and using DEET-based insect repellents. Using pesticides to reduce tick numbers may also be effective. Ticks can be removed using tweezers. If the removed tick was full of blood, a single dose of doxycycline may be used to prevent development of infection, but is not generally recommended since development of infection is rare. If an infection develops, a number of antibiotics are effective, including doxycycline, amoxicillin, and cefuroxime. Standard treatment usually lasts for two or three weeks. Some people develop a fever

title: Lyme disease
text: for the bacteria that causes Lyme to travel from within the tick into its saliva. If a deer tick that is sufficiently likely to be carrying "Borrelia" is found attached to a person and removed, and if the tick has been attached for 36 hours or is engorged, a single dose of doxycycline administered within the 72 hours after removal may reduce the risk of Lyme disease. It is not generally recommended for all people bitten, as development of infection is rare: about 50 bitten people would have to be treated this way to prevent one case of erythema migrans

title: Lyme disease
text: effective in the prevention of tick bites. In Europe known reservoirs of "Borrelia burgdorferi" were 9 small mammals, 7 medium-sized mammals and 16 species of birds (including passerines, sea-birds and pheasants). These animals seem to transmit spirochetes to ticks and thus participate in the natural circulation of B. burgdorferi in Europe. The house mouse is also suspected as well as other species of small rodents, particularly in Eastern Europe and Russia. A recombinant vaccine against Lyme disease, based on the outer surface protein A (ospA) of "B. burgdorferi", was developed by SmithKline Beecham. In clinical trials involving more than 10,000

title: Virginia opossum
text: opossums that live near urban environments. Though sometimes mistakenly considered to be rats, opossums are not closely related to rodents, or other placentalian mammals. They rarely transmit diseases to humans, and are surprisingly resistant to rabies, most likely because they have lower body temperatures than most placental mammals. In addition, opossums limit the spread of Lyme disease, as they successfully kill off most disease-carrying ticks that feed on them. The opossum was once a favorite game animal in the United States, in particular in the southern regions which have a large body of recipes and folklore relating to it. Their

title: Lyme disease
text: be reduced by greatly reducing the deer population on which the adult ticks depend for feeding and reproduction. Lyme disease cases fell following deer eradication on an island, Monhegan, Maine and following deer control in Mumford Cove, Connecticut. It is worth noting that eliminating deer may lead to a temporary increase in tick density. For example, in the U.S., reducing the deer population to levels of 8 to 10 per square mile (from the current levels of 60 or more deer per square mile in the areas of the country with the highest Lyme disease rates), may reduce tick numbers

title: Lyme disease
text: 36 hours can reduce transmission rates. Folk remedies for tick removal tend to be ineffective, offer no advantages in preventing the transfer of disease, and may increase the risks of transmission or infection. The best method is simply to pull the tick out with tweezers as close to the skin as possible, without twisting, and avoiding crushing the body of the tick or removing the head from the tick's body. The risk of infection increases with the time the tick is attached, and if a tick is attached for less than 24 hours, infection is unlikely. However, since these ticks

title: Lyme disease
text: are very small, especially in the nymph stage, prompt detection is quite difficult. The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy does not recommend the use of tweezers where the person may be allergic as anaphylaxis could result. Instead they recommend killing the tick first by using a product to rapidly freeze the tick to prevent it from injecting more allergen-containing saliva and the tick should then be removed in a safe place such as a hospital emergency room. The risk of infectious transmission increases with the duration of tick attachment. It requires between 36 and 48 hours of attachment

title: Lyme disease
text: and muscle and joint pains from treatment which may last for one or two days. In those who develop persistent symptoms, long-term antibiotic therapy has not been found to be useful. Lyme disease is the most common disease spread by ticks in the Northern Hemisphere. It is estimated to affect 300,000 people a year in the United States and 65,000 people a year in Europe. Infections are most common in the spring and early summer. Lyme disease was diagnosed as a separate condition for the first time in 1975 in Old Lyme, Connecticut. It was originally mistaken for juvenile rheumatoid

title: Mycobacterium bovis
text: in 1994 to fewer than 100 herds in July 2011. Much of this success can be attributed to sustained cattle controls reducing cross-infection and breaking the disease cycle. For example, at Hohotaka, in New Zealand's central North Island, control work from 1988 to 1994 achieved a sustained mean reduction of 87.5% in the density of TB‐infected opossums. As expected, annual TB incidence in local cattle herds consequently declined by a similar amount (83.4%). Possums are controlled through a combination of trapping, ground-baiting, and where other methods are impractical, aerial treatment with 1080 poison. From 1979 to 1984, possum control was

title: Dermacentor variabilis
text: on mammals such as squirrels, humans, deer, mice, raccoons, and even skunks. They also feed on birds. The nymph continues to feed off of the mammals stated above before maturing into an infected adult. Once the tick reaches the adult stage, it will commonly feed on larger animals such as the opossum, cat, dog, deer, and humans. Symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever can first be noted by the appearance of a rash around the wrists and ankles that moves slowly up to the rest of the body and develops within 2–5 days. Symptoms of tularemia usually appear within 3–5

title: Amblyomma americanum
text: unlikely to be capable of transmitting Lyme disease. Some evidence indicates "A. americanum" saliva inactivates "B. burgdorferi" more quickly than the saliva of "Ixodes scapularis". Recently the bacteria "Borrelia andersonii" and "Borrelia americana" have been linked to "A. americanum". In 2013, in response to two cases of severe febrile illness occurring in two farmers in northwestern Missouri, researchers determined the lone star tick can transmit the heartland virus. Six more cases were identified in 2012–2013 in Missouri and Tennessee. The bite of the lone star tick can cause a person to develop alpha-gal meat allergy, a delayed response to nonprimate

title: Ixodes holocyclus
text: antiserum is not given sufficiently early, "before" the signs are advanced. Ancillary treatments may include: Prevention of tick paralysis is mostly achieved by a combination of daily searching and the use of tick-repelling or tick-killing agents. These may be topical sprays, rinses and collars or systemic oral insecticides. Some owners decide to clip the fur short to help detect ticks. Daily searching usually gives a person a few days to find an attached tick. However ticks at the early stage of attachment are small and flat and so easily missed. Whilst most ticks on dogs are found around the head,

title: Lyme disease
text: and reduce the spread of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. However, such a drastic reduction may be very difficult to implement in many areas, and low to moderate densities of deer or other large mammal hosts may continue to feed sufficient adult ticks to maintain larval densities at high levels. Routine veterinary control of ticks of domestic animals, including livestock, by use of acaricides can contribute to reducing exposure of humans to ticks. Action can be taken to avoid getting bitten by ticks by using insect repellants, for example, those that contain DEET. DEET-containing repellants are thought to be moderately

title: Lyme disease
text: likely to have more ticks. Outdoor workers should be most careful to protect themselves in the late spring and summer when young ticks are most active. Antibiotics are the primary treatment. The specific approach to their use is dependent on the individual affected and the stage of the disease. For most people with early localized infection, oral administration of doxycycline is widely recommended as the first choice, as it is effective against not only "Borrelia" bacteria but also a variety of other illnesses carried by ticks. Doxycycline is contraindicated in children younger than eight years of age and women who

title: Lyme disease
text: leaf litter, and tall grass are at risk of becoming infected with Lyme at work. Employers can reduce the risk for employees by providing education on Lyme transmission and infection risks, and about how to check themselves for ticks on the groin, armpits, and hair. Work clothing used in risky areas should be washed in hot water and dried in a hot dryer to kill any ticks. Permethrin sprayed on clothing kills ticks on contact, and is sold for this purpose. According to the CDC, only DEET is effective at repelling ticks. Lyme and other deer tick-borne diseases can sometimes

title: Ixodes holocyclus
text: antibiotics can prevent longer-term problems in some individuals. Doctors in Australia may also wish to investigate the possibility of a Lyme-like disease, particularly if there is also a 'bullseye' or 'target' shaped skin rash (known as erythema migrans). Further information for Australian doctors is available at Tick-transmitted Diseases (Australia). The tick's paralysing toxin has been estimated to affect as many as 100,000 domestic animals annually, with up to 10,000 companion animals being referred to veterinary surgeons for treatment. All stages of "Ixodes holocyclus" are commonly responsible for allergic reactions in humans. Attachment of a few larvae to a non-sensitised host

title: Ixodes holocyclus
text: Australian form of Lyme-like borreliosis is associated with a different clinical picture from true Lyme disease of North America. Skin lesions of Lyme-like disease. Early symptoms in the first four weeks after a tickbite include a rash or red patch that gradually expands over several days. It may get quite large (up to 50 mm or more in diameter). This rash is called "erythema migrans" or EM. It can be difficult to distinguish from an allergic reaction at the site of the bite. Allergic rashes usually occur within 48 hours of the bite, then fade. EM usually first appears after

title: Lyme disease
text: seropositive, as were between 2% and 4-5% of the general local population of the area. Tests on pet dogs, carried out throughout the country in 2009 indicated that around 2.5% of ticks in the UK may be infected, considerably higher than previously thought. It is thought that global warming may lead to an increase in tick activity in the future, as well as an increase in the amount of time that people spend in public parks, thus increasing the risk of infection. Many studies in North America have examined ecological and environmental correlates of Lyme disease prevalence. A 2005 study

title: Lyme disease
text: of the "I. scapularis" tick will expand into Canada by 46 km/year over the next decade, with warming climatic temperatures as the main driver of increased speed of spread. A 2007 study suggests "Borrelia burgdorferi" infections are endemic to Mexico, from four cases reported between 1999 and 2000. Each year, approximately 30,000 new cases are reported to the CDC however, this number is likely underestimated. The CDC is currently conducting research on evaluation and diagnostics of the disease and preliminary results suggest the number of new cases to be around 300,000. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in

title: Lyme disease
text: pains, severe headaches with neck stiffness, or heart palpitations, among others. Months to years later, repeated episodes of joint pain and swelling may occur. Occasionally, people develop shooting pains or tingling in their arms and legs. Despite appropriate treatment, about 10 to 20% of people develop joint pains, memory problems, and tiredness for at least six months. Lyme disease is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected ticks of the genus "Ixodes". In the United States, ticks of concern are usually of the "Ixodes scapularis" type, and must be attached for at least 36 hours before the bacteria can