When Lyme Disease Was First Being Investigated, the Observation That Frequently

question 42

Multiple Choice

When Lyme disease was first being investigated, the observation that frequently only one person in a household was infected was a clue leading to the discovery that the disease was transmitted by arthropod bites. Why was this so?

• A) If the infection is spread by the bite of an arthropod, it wouldn't spread easily by respiratory secretions, direct contact, or sexual contact between individuals within the family.
• B) Mosquitoes (an example of arthropods) are never inside a house. They are strictly outdoor insects, so they couldn't spread the infection inside the household.
• C) Mosquitoes (an example of arthropods) only bite once in their lifetime. As such, they can only transmit the illness once before they die. Even if an infected mosquito was inside a house, it could only infect one human.
• D) Arthropods lose their mechanical ability to bite a human after a single bite, much like certain bees lose their stinger after a single sting. This prevents them from transmitting the infection to more than one individual in a household.
• E) These are all valid reasons that support the theory that Lyme disease must be transmitted by arthropod bites.

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