Beware of ticks

There have been two recent cases of Crimean-Congo fever, a disease transmitted by tick bites, detected in Madrid (the first of which even caused the death of the patient).

It is estimated that there are around 190 varieties of ticks, although in Spain there are only three that can be considered indigenous: - The Rhipicephalus Sanguineus, habitual in the Mediterranean coast and that usually infects dogs and other animals; Dermacentor Reticulatus, also called the sheep tick; and Ixodes Ricinus, one of the few that prefers humid environments and that proliferates more in autumn than in warm seasons.

None of these is the one that transmits Crimean-Congo fever, which is spread by other endemic varieties in Africa and tropical Asia, one of these is named Boophilus, and only infects cattle.

Some of these varieties of ticks have been detected in Extremadura in 2011, as reported by the Ministry of Health , and it is likely that they have since spread to other parts of the country, probably transported by birds or other animals imported from abroad. Authorities caution that panic should not occur, as most tick bites are harmless to humans or animals. Nevertheless ticks can also transmit Lyme disease, a serious bacteria. First you notice a small bump and rash which expands to an encircled red, warm patch. This can develop in fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, chills, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes. These symptoms get progressively more noticeable and it takes 2 to 4 weeks of antibiotics to cure it. If untreated, it will develop into arthritis, chronic pain, numbness, tingling of hands and feet and short memory loss.

This is why, as a precaution in the event of a sting, it is best to go seek medical advice as soon as possible. In the case of animals, take them to the vet to be dewormed and make certain you eliminate those unwanted and annoying guests.

Worried about the end of the World?

Every year someone will make new apocalyptic predictions through the internet and the tabloids.

In 2019, for example, it was predicted that the world would end in a nuclear war, an asteroid impact, and even a new ice age, just to name a few, but we now know better don’t we?

According to some, this year is no exception and we need to prepare for the end of days. There have been various predictions made, but the following are among the most popular with enthusiasts:

• “World One”. A computer program named “World One,” which was developed in 1973 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), predicts 2020 to be the year when a series of catastrophic events kick off a 20-year process of a slow demise of human civilization.

• The second coming. According to a 1973 bookby astrologer Jeane Dixon, Jesus is scheduled to return sometime in the years 2020–2037 bringing with him the apocalypse. But then again, she also predicted the cure for cancer by 1967.

• The Viking stone. – A team of Swedish researchers recently managed to decipher the writings on a stone slab dated back to 800 CE. It turned out to be a Viking prophecy about the end of the world due to a “battle with the weather”—a wording eerily reminiscent of the currently unfolding climate crisis. If you are worried because of the present pandemic, you might put your mind at rest by considering that even the Mayans predicted the end of the world on 21st December 2012, along with all the other predictions, including the 1999 arrival from the sky of the “king of Terror” as prophesied by

Nostradamus