Here in Duluth, we identified for the first time a case of a tick-borne bacterial infection called human granulocytic ehrlichiosis. The organism is injected into the body just like in Lyme disease, and causes fever and a sometimes fatal illness that had previously gone undiagnosed. The infection is now defined as an emerging infectious disease by the Centers for Disease Control. We have now detected more than 600 cases in 13 states and in seven or eight European countries. So it's probably a global illness, and we had the good fortune of finding it here first.
Travel clinics have to struggle to be paid for their services.
Many health insurance plans do not cover expenses in connection with medical counseling in preparation for travel, so many travel clinics require patients to sign a form stating that they will be responsible to pay if their health plans do not. If the travel clinic doesn't initiate a discussion about payment, many patients are unpleasantly surprised to find that the services aren't paid for by insurance and that they have to bear the cost themselves. All Rights Reserved. Best Doctors and The Best Doctors in America are Registered Trademarks. We subscribe to the HONcode principles of the Health On the Net Foundation.