Southern tick-associated rash illness

Diagnosis is based on a circular "bull's-eye" rash at the site of infection called erythema chronicum migrans, which is very similar to that seen in Lyme disease. However, the symptoms of STARI are mild and resemble influenza, with fatigue, muscle pains, and headache. Fever is sometimes seen, but is not characteristic. ==Geography==

As of 2018, most cases were from Southeastern Missouri, a few were from South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and one case each in Mississippi and Long Island, New York. ==Cause==

The illness, first described in 1997, is a tick-borne disease carried by the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum. The tick had first been proposed as a possible vector of disease in 1984, and the illnesses associated with the tick was called "Lyme-like disease", but it was not recognized to be distinct from Lyme disease until the late 1990s. which is a spirochete first isolated in culture in 2004. However, the conclusion has been controversial since the spirochete has not been detected in many cases of the syndrome, which has led some authors to argue that the illness is not caused by a bacterial pathogen. Several studies have failed to detect Borrelia burgdorferi, which is the causative agent of Lyme disease, in patients from the southern United States. ==Treatment==

Infections are treated with antibiotics, particularly doxycycline, and the acute symptoms appear to respond to these drugs. ==Prognosis==

No serious long-term effects are known for this disease, but preliminary evidence suggests, if such symptoms do occur, they are less severe than those associated with Lyme disease. ==See also==