LYME DISEASE
Cooler weather is when ticks thrive
Now that cooler weather is here, we can forget about mosquitoes and the headline-grabbing Zika virus and start worrying about another disease-carrying insect: Ticks transmit a number of diseases including Lyme disease that affect people and pets, and while cold weather may kill off mosquitoes, ticks remain a year-round threat.
“Ticks are sewers of infection, and Lyme is only one of the diseases ticks carry. You don’t want to be bitten by a tick,” said Dorothy Leland, vice president, Lyme-Disease. org.
About Lyme
Lyme disease is at an alltime high, with 38,069 reported cases in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the estimated number of cases is thought to be 10 times as high as officially reported cases, which would put the estimate at 380,000, the agency said. The difference is because the CDC does not include all numbers turned in by state and local governments, for example because of estimates based on sampling, Leland said.
Because Lyme can manifest itself in many ways, it is often misdiagnosed. A circular rash and flu-like symptoms are typical, but odd symptoms that don’t fall into a pattern occur, too.
“It’s not always easy to categorize and its symptoms often mimic other diseases,” Leland said. Plus, there is no definitive test for Lyme and false-negative testing is always a possibility, she added.
Often called the great imitator, Lyme disease “can burrow into any organ of the body – the brain, heart, muscles and joints, gastrointestinal and nervous systems,” Leland said. Thwarting ticks
The ticks that spread Lyme disease are most active during fall and winter, according to the Companion Animal Parasite Council, which predicts 2016 will be a banner year for ticks.
Ticks thrive virtually everywhere in the country, with different species preferring different locales. While ticks are commonly found in heavily wooded areas, they also thrive in domestic settings such as gardens, landscape plantings and backyard grasses. Experts estimate that the majority of people who contract tick-borne diseases came in contact with the tick that made them ill right in their own backyards.
“It’s not just deer that carry the ticks that spread Lyme disease. Other small rodents like mice can carry it, too,” Leland said.
Ticks like moist environments more than dry ones.
“They like to hang out in wooded areas, fields with long grasses and leaf piles,” Leland said. Your highest risk of encountering a tick would be by sitting on a downed log, leaning against a tree trunk or gathering firewood, she added.
According to LymeDisease. org, here are some ways to reduce the ticks on your property:
• Prune trees.
• Clear brush.
• Remove litter.
• Mow grass short and let it dry thoroughly between waterings.
• Move shrubbery and overgrowth farther from areas frequented by people.
To make your property unattractive to animals that are hosts to ticks:
• Eliminate bird feeders, birdbaths and salt licks.
• Erect fencing around the property.
• Clear away woodpiles, garbage and leaf piles.
• Remove stonewalls that provide homes to wildlife.
• Have your property chemically treated.
High fences and planting vegetation that deer are averse to are longer-term options to deter deer and the ticks they carry.
Topical foliage sprays like the all-natural Bobbex Deer Repellent can be applied year-round. It uses taste- and scent-aversion ingredients to deter deer from grazing on foliage, shrubs and trees.
When outdoors, dress defensively with shoes, socks, long pants and sleeves, Leland said.
“Clothing that is pretreated with the repellent permethrin can be bought at outdoors stores and lasts through about 70 washings.
Or, you can buy permethrin spray and treat clothes yourself,” Leland said.
Repellents that include DEET are recommended by the CDC, but more natural options like picaridin or lemon eucalyptus oil work, too.