STARI (Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness)

Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI) is also known as Masters Disease. STARI is a disease that looks and acts and is treated like Lyme disease.  The causitive agent of STARI is unknown, although some people think the bacterium, Borrellia lonestari, could be the causative agent, and others think it is another form of Lyme disease. Symptoms are similar to Lyme disease and can include a rash that looks like the bull’s eye rash of Lyme. There is no generally accepted test for STARI at this time. It is often found in the South and Midwest where Amblyomma americanum (lone star), the tick that transmits STARI, is prevalent. STARI can also be found in the Northern portions of the USA. The treatment is generally the same as for early Lyme disease, doxycycline. For more information on STARI visit the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center Columbia University Medical Center Web site www.columbia-lyme.org/patients/tbd_stari.html


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