Western Fence Lizards' blood kills Lyme Disease, Jeopardy question on episode aired 3/23/18

Yes, I saw that episode as I am an avid Jeopardy watcher.

According to the articles below, Western Fence Lizards contain a protein that kill the bacteria:

The most fascinating and beneficial interaction shared with S. occidentalis is that of the common tick. Ticks are a known carrier of Lyme disease which is very dangerous to humans, other animals, and forests. Amazingly, when ticks feed on the Western Fence Lizard, a protein in the lizard’s blood kills the Lyme disease bacteria, hindering any further opportunity of that tick to spread the disease. This phenomenon is statistically proven based on rates of infected human’s with Lyme disease. In regions where Sceloporus occidentalis is very abundant, such as California, rates of the disease are drastically lower than regions without the lizard, like Northeastern United States (Swei et al, 2011a).

bioweb.uwlax.edu/bio203/f2013/hopkins_cien/interactions.htm

www.anapsid.org/lyme/sceloporus.html

I honestly don't know if I believe that California really has lower rates of lyme disease?

Denise

I also don't know about CA having lower incidences of the disease, as it's where I live, and I know a TON of people with LD.

I recently went to a Lyme seminar, and they said that that's why in CA people are usually infected by the nymphs, which are harder to see, while on the East Coast, folks are usually infected by adult ticks.

We have plenty of nymphs on the east coast. They are the deadliest of the ticks in our area. It is what reinfected me.

I'm looking into possums and guinea hens.

Maybe we can stock up on lizards and sprinkle our lawns with their blood. During a full moon. Wearing long black cloaks. While having a Jeopardy marathon. I watch it every night. Maybe most of their viewers have Lyme.