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Spotlight / Lyme Disease

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 August 2005, 09:01 CDT

THE NUMBERS

20,000 a year

Nationwide: 21,273 cases of Lyme disease were reported in 2003, mostly in New England and mid-Atlantic states.

Tennessee: Since 1993, 323 cases of Lyme disease have been reported.

Mississippi: 133 cases.

Arkansas: 109 cases.

Unreported: Estimates are that only 10 percent of cases are reported because Lyme disease often causes only mild, flu-like symptoms.

THE DISEASE

Feels like flu

Symptoms: Fever, fatigue, joint and muscle aches, headache and, in some people, a bull's-eye rash.

Longterm problems: Untreated, it can cause neurological problems, personality changes, sleep disturbances, disabling joint pain and swelling, meningitis or heart trouble.

PREVENTION

Keep ticks at bay

Ticks prefer wooded and bushy areas with high grass and a lot of leaf litter. These are areas to avoid.

Take extra precautions in May, June, and July. This is when ticks that transmit Lyme disease are most active.

If you do enter a tick area, walk in the center of the trail to avoid contact with overgrown grass, brush, and leaf litter.

Ask your local health department and park or extension service about tick-infested areas to avoid.

Use insect repellent with 20-30 percent DEET on adults' skin and clothing to prevent tick bite.

Permethrin is another type of repellent. Permethrin kills ticks on contact! One application to pants, socks, and shoes typically stays effective through several washings. Permethrin should not be applied directly to skin.

Wear long pants, long sleeves, and long socks to keep ticks off your skin. Light-colored clothing will help you spot ticks more easily. Tucking pant legs into socks or boots and tucking shirts into pants help keep ticks on the outside of clothing. If you'll be outside for an extended period of time, tape the area where your pants and socks meet to prevent ticks from crawling under your clothes.

Remove ticks from your clothes before going indoors. To kill ticks that you may have missed, wash your clothes with hot water and dry them using high heat for at least one hour.

Perform daily tick checks after being outdoors, even in your own yard.

If a tick is attached to your skin for less than 24 hours, your chance of getting Lyme disease is extremely small.

TICK-FREE YARD

Keep it unfriendly

Pesticides: A pesticide designed to kill ticks is sometimes called an acaricide. Acaricides can be very effective in reducing tick populations. A single application can reduce tick populations by 70-100 percent for months.

Landscaping: Ticks that transmit Lyme disease thrive in humid wooded areas. They die quickly in sunny and dry environments.

Remove leaf litter and clear tall grasses and brush around homes and at the edges of lawns.

Place wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas to restrict tick migration to recreational areas.

Mow the lawn and clear brush and leaf litter frequently.

Keep the ground under bird feeders clean.

Stack wood neatly and in dry areas.

Keep playground equipment, decks and patios away from yard edges and trees.

DISCOURAGING DEER

Goodbye, Bambi

Do not feed deer on your property. It may be necessary to remove bird feeders and clean up spilled birdfeed.

Construct physical barriers to discourage deer from entering your yard.

Check with garden centers, nurseries, or local extension agents to learn about deer-resistant plants.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven; Associated Press.

Source: Commercial Appeal, The

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