Pennsylvania leads the nation in the number of cases of Lyme disease. The primary reasons for that are not hard to understand: We have abundant, beautiful natural areas, which people enjoy, that are loaded with deer ticks.
But why are there so many deer (aka black-legged) ticks? And why do four of every 10 of them carry Lyme disease? As usual, we have ourselves to blame.
According to Nicole Chinnici, a tick researcher at the Northeast Wildlife DNA Lab at East Stroudsburg University, the main cause is forest fragmentation. We keep carving up our forests into smaller segments to make room for shopping centers and housing developments.
Smaller forest segments mean fewer predators. Fewer predators mean more white-tail deer and white-footed mice.
Deer aren’t susceptible to Lyme disease, but they make the tick population larger. Because white-footed mice circulate Lyme bacteria in their blood, they pass the disease along to the ticks, which transmit it into us.
“Lyme disease is curable,” Nicole recently told a group gathered for her program at the Forbes State Forest District Office near Laughlintown. “But the damage is not curable.”
The first sign of Lyme is a bulls-eye rash, which may or may not be at the bite site. But that rash is only present about 20 percent of the time. About two weeks after the infection, common flu-like symptoms develop.
Over the next few months, joint pain and fluid build-up may develop along with other unpleasant symptoms such as numbness, inability to use facial muscles, weakness, headaches and pinkeye. Eventually arthritis, chronic exhaustion, heart problems and trouble with memory, mood and sleeping can result.
Early detection is the key to avoiding all of the unpleasantness and permanent damage. Finding and properly removing the tick is the first step.
Use tweezers or a tick tool, grasp the tick near its mouthpart and pull gently until it releases. Don’t squeeze or twist the tick or it will regurgitate any bacteria present into you. Then send the tick to Chinnici’s lab for analysis. Visit TickChek.com.
Not all deer ticks carry Lyme disease, and there are other types of ticks that will latch on to us (and can carry other nasty diseases). Chinnici’s lab will identify and test the tick for various diseases and report back to you after about 72 hours. If you’ve been exposed, you can seek treatment right away.
Knowing a bit more about ticks’ life-cycle will help to keep them off your body. For instance: Now is the best time of year to be in the woods – when it comes to ticks – because they hide from heat and nymphs are in a dormant stage before becoming adults.
Once the adults emerge in September, be watchful but aware that adult ticks are large enough to spot easily. The nymphs, which are active in the spring, are the most dangerous because they are big enough to transmit disease but small enough to be missed. Most Lyme disease is transmitted by the nymphs.
Dress preventively: Long-sleeved shirts and long pants, light- or white-colors so you can see ticks on your clothes, tucking in your shirt and pant bottoms into your socks or wearing gaiters and a hat all will help.
Insect repellent keeps ticks off but loses effectiveness quickly. Permethrin kills ticks but should be sprayed on clothes only (outside and not while wearing it), then allowed to dry. In particular, spray boots, socks, gaiters, pants, beltline, shirt collar and your hat.
If your dog accompanies you, always check him or her carefully upon your return home (outside). Check yourself thoroughly (inside). Throw your clothes into a hot drier for 10 minutes to kill any unknown passengers.
While this might seem like a lot of bother, it’s worth it. After all, there’s another reason why Pennsylvania has the most Lyme cases: It’s a great place to be outdoors.