Tick-related Disease Thrives On Cholesterol, Study Suggests

People who have high cholesterol levels may be much more susceptible to a particular disease transmitted by the bites of ticks, a new study in mice suggests. Scientists infected mice with the bacterium that causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis, a disease with flu-like symptoms. Bacteria levels were 10 times greater in mice that were genetically predisposed to high cholesterol levels and that were also fed a high-cholesterol diet.