southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI)

Etiology

• pathogen unknown

Epidemiology

• transmitted by Lone Star tick (same tick that transmits ehrlichiosis)
• southeastern, south central & mid-Atlantic United States

Clinical manifestations

• erythema migrans
• fever
• headache
• myalgias
• clinically indistinguishable from Lyme disease

Differential diagnosis

• Lyme disease
  • differential based on geographic features & tick identity
  • Lyme disease is transmitted by Ixodes ticks
    • more likely to occur in the northeastern & north-central United States

Management

• treat as Lyme disease
  • doxycycline, amoxicillin or cefuroxime

More general terms

• tick borne infection