New map of Lyme disease risk

[ALLEGHENY]

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/files/2012/02/tick_lyme_disease.jpg
New Map Shows that Most Lyme-Infected Ticks Are in Northeast, Northern Midwest | Observations, Scientific American Blog Network (http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2012/02/01/new-map-shows-that-most-lyme-infected-ticks-are-in-northeast-northern-midwest/)
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/files/2012/02/lyme_disease_risk_map.jpg

What precautions will you folks be taking to avoid becoming a victim of this dreaded monster?:eek:

[That makes regular tick checks a good preventive measure. And it doesn’t have to be a solitary chore. As country singer Brad Paisley notes, “I’d like to walk you through a field of wildflowers, and I’d like to check you for ticks.”]

[RWheeler]

I contracted Lyme's last year and it really threw me off - it has taken about 9 months for me to really start getting back to normal for me.

I'll be checking myself regularly, that's for sure. Once I get past VA, anyway.

[nitewalker]

found this concerning tick bites and time it takes to transmit the disease.

A tick that was not attached, was easy to remove or just walking on the skin, and was still flat and tiny and not full of blood when it was removed could not have transmitted Lyme disease or any other infection since it had not yet taken a blood meal.

Only ticks that are attached and have finished feeding or are near the end of their meal can transmit Lyme disease. After arriving on the skin, the tick that spreads Lyme disease usually takes 24 hours before feeding begins.


Even if a tick is attached, it must have taken a blood meal to transmit Lyme disease. At least 36 to 48 hours of feeding is required for a tick to have fed and then transmit the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. After this amount of time, the tick will be engorged (full of blood). An engorged tick has a globular shape and is larger than an unengorged one.

[Pedaling Fool]

I've seen regular-sized ticks, both unfed and after feeding. And I've seen those incredibly small deer ticks (Nymphs), but I've never seen a Nymph that has fed, so kind of curious how much size feeding would add to those little suckers.

[nitewalker]

I've seen regular-sized ticks, both unfed and after feeding. And I've seen those incredibly small deer ticks (Nymphs), but I've never seen a Nymph that has fed, so kind of curious how much size feeding would add to those little suckers.

i pulled two of those little nymph SOB's off my body after leaving the ocala forest a couple years back. one on my inner thigh and the other was under my waist band. not sure how long they were there but it was not more than four or five hours. those nymph guys are extremely small and hard to detect. my buddy pitdog was the 1st person to make me aware of the tiny bugers. he is a logger and has tons of outdoor experience fwiw...

[quilteresq]

It's well worth treating your clothes, using protective clothing, and using deet when the ticks start. I'm hoping that the cold winter with lack of snow cover knocks down NH's tick population this year. They've been awful the last couple of years.

[Spokes]

Lots of poorly maintained trail and overgrown grass/vegetation on the AT where that new Lyme Disease map begins and ends in New England. No wonder we have so many thru hikers afflicted.

[LDog]

I'm gonna put 6oz bottles of permethrin in drop boxes spaced ~6 weeks apart, starting in northern Virginia. I'll treat my socks, trousers and shirt, and wear deet on exposed skin around ankles and wrists.

My BIL had a dear tick imbedded for less than 8 hrs. The tick tested positive, and he has non-specific symptoms that could be just the fact that he's an olde phart - fever, aches and pains ... We're waiting for results from western blot test.

[Slo-go'en]

I think its a good idea to spray the pack too, since that gets set down on the ground/grass a lot and then put back on your back.

Going by the distribution map, I don't think I'll bother hiking through PA/NJ/NY and CT again. Too much risk for too little reward.

[Pedaling Fool]

...overgrown grass/vegetation on the AT...Beauty of nature vs. the hazards of nature. It's a pretty ugly world.

You'll ever notice that when you look over to a point you're headed, it's so pretty and serene looking from a distance, but once you get there it looks no different than where you observed it from. Nature's best viewed from a distance:)

[swjohnsey]

Cure for Lyme disease (and anaplasmoisis) is Doxycyclene. I got 100 in Mexico for about six bucks.

[ALLEGHENY]

I found a fully engorged tick on me this past archery season here in western PA.

I didn't know what it was until after I just grabbed it and ripped it off. probably injecting the bacteria. Doc gave me two pills (Doxycyclene) just in case. Now 5+ months later, still have small red mark where the mouth parts are under the skin. Hope the antibiotic did it's job.

I will use deet, permeithrie, long sleeves and pants. I also will check for the tick.

[Spokes]

Cure for Lyme disease (and anaplasmoisis) is Doxycyclene. I got 100 in Mexico for about six bucks.

Funny, I thought Forsythia was the cure.......

[swjohnsey]

Funny, I thought Forsythia was the cure.......

Good luck with that!

[Jeff]

Several AT hikers the past two years felt they contracted Lyme's Disease in Shenandoah NP. The deer tick map from the OP really doesn't say northern VA is affected, but hikers think otherwise.

[Pedaling Fool]

I'm not really impressed with that map in the OP. Seems like a lot of wasted man-hours and money. Especially considering how quickly things like bacteria and ticks don't stay in one location. What's funny is this statement in the OP's link:

These findings should help doctors better evaluate a person’s actual risk of having contracted Lyme disease, which is key to effective treatment and avoiding false positives. “Our sampling of tick populations at hundreds of sites suggests that any diagnosis of Lyme disease in most of the South should be put in serious doubt, unless it involves someone who has traveled to an area where the disease is common,” Diuk-Wasser said. Folks in the South might be more likely to encounter the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), whose bite can be easy to confuse with an infected deer tick bite because it can also cause a rash that resembles the telltale Lyme disease “bull’s eye.” Such cases could result in mis-diagnosis with Lyme disease.

And then they go on to say this:rolleyes:

Lab tests are more likely to produce false-positive results in areas where Lyme disease is not endemic, the researchers noted. And with some 2.7 million tests for Lyme disease in the U.S. a year, false positives are a concern for patient safety.

The plain and simple fact is that lyme disease does occur outside the red zones on the map; I know for a fact I picked up lyme in the green area. What the first paragraph is basically saying is that if a patient shows possible signs of lyme disease, but hasn't left the state, any state that is in the green on that map, then it gives doctors reason to believe the symptoms are NOT that of lyme disease. I know it doesn't say that, per se, but that's how many doctor will read it.

[LDog]

The plain and simple fact is that lyme disease does occur outside the red zones on the map; I know for a fact I picked up lyme in the green area. What the first paragraph is basically saying is that if a patient shows possible signs of lyme disease, but hasn't left the state, any state that is in the green on that map, then it gives doctors reason to believe the symptoms are NOT that of lyme disease. I know it doesn't say that, per se, but that's how many doctor will read it.

When you dig into the clinical evaluation guidelines for determining if a doctor ought to treat for Lyme, one of the standards is whether the place where the patient was bitten has a high incidence of Lyme ... One might have to shop for doctors, or find someone who can get Doxycyclene from Mexico cheap.

Hey swjohnsey, buddy!

[Tinker]

Shelter mice carry shelter ticks (white-footed deer mouse carries deer ticks). A number of years back someone was putting permethrin treated cotton balls in shelters so the mice would use it for bedding and kill the ticks. Haven't heard anything about that in 10 years or so (nor do I make it a habit to sleep in shelters any longer). If I sleep in a shelter I hang my hammock (only when there's room, and when the weather's unusually bad). I try to keep my carcass off of the floor.

[swjohnsey]

When you dig into the clinical evaluation guidelines for determining if a doctor ought to treat for Lyme, one of the standards is whether the place where the patient was bitten has a high incidence of Lyme ... One might have to shop for doctors, or find someone who can get Doxycyclene from Mexico cheap.

Hey swjohnsey, buddy!

My understanding is that where Lyme disease a common doctors don't even test if you are showing symptoms but just start you on doxycyclene. I got sick in PA near Harrisburg. They tested me for Lyme disease three or four times and started me on doxycyclene before the results came back. Came back negative for Lyme and they took me off it. Turns out I had something called anaplasmoisis, also tick borne, also treated with doxycyclene.

I have some extra.

[Bronk]

Lyme has been documented in all 50 US states. Migrating birds transport ticks from as far north as Canada and as far south as South America. Map or no map, you can become infected anywhere.

[double d]

Lyme Disease is nasty business, be careful, we have a hugh problem with it here in the Upper Midwest as well.

[Migrating Bird]

I've seen regular-sized ticks, both unfed and after feeding. And I've seen those incredibly small deer ticks (Nymphs), but I've never seen a Nymph that has fed, so kind of curious how much size feeding would add to those little suckers.

Here is a link to show how big ticks get. http://www.portlandmaine.gov/hhs/tickknowyourenemy.pdf I have found them on my dog (long haired spaniel) the size of a pea when fully engourged with blood.

[Mfrenchy]

This may be dumb, but can't you put flea and tick collars around your legs? Would that stop them?:confused:

[swjohnsey]

Maybe some of 'em. Ticks climb to the top of vegetation and catch a rides as you brush against it. The collars contain poision which probably wouldn't be a good idea against bare skin.

This was a popular thing amoung grunts in the army.

[dink]

I live in a "red" zone and am in the great outdoors all the time...never got Lymes but my friend did back before they knew about it here (early 80s). She was sick for 2 years before they knew what it was and she almost died. Now she has a pacemaker because it ruined the nerve bundle that controls heartrate...also had to have surgery on both knees and a plate put in her neck...it also totally ruined her balance function. If she can't see, she can't stay upright...all from a tiny little tick. Be safe and check yourself many times a day...these little buggers can be fast to find a place to latch on!!

[Blissful]

That map is ridiculous. DO NOT trust it. Lyme diease is very high in Shenandoah NP and northern VA. There are signs aobut it everywhere. I got a deer tick this Jan climbing Old Rag. I'd take BIG precautions from Waynesboro on up.

In fact they are doing a big study on it here at UVA. Its huge news around here.

[Rayo]

http://www.portlandmaine.gov/hhs/tickknowyourenemy.pdf

THANKS! That was 5 minutes well spent!

[simon]

Lymes is very ugly in PA. My son still has Bell's Palsy from a tick bite back in March. Sure wish they'd spray or find something we could use to kill the little suckers!

[Wise Old Owl]

Plum Island Conspiracy theory -Jessy Ventura
http://www.infowars.com/plum-island-conspiracy-theory-with-jesse-ventura-season-2-episode-1/

For readers that don't know - Plum Island, Southold, NY is ground zero for military disease research going back to WW2! and if you compare Plum Island on Google Map to where Lyme was first discovered - Lyme Connecticut and they are a few miles apart.

Watch the video for what happened to Jessy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC1gV_6aSIA

Coincidence?

[Pedaling Fool]

Plum Island Conspiracy theory -Jessy Ventura
Coincidence?
No, Sensationalism.

[Wise Old Owl]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhdBNmCANzk


Discussion on ticks in this video....


I don't buy into all this - FYI after looking at all the "Mauntauk Monster" - it's bloated and the front of face around the top incisors was soft and the first to go. fish ate at it and pealed back the snout to reveal the bone making the beak like protuberance that is in the photo - the front top incisors are now missing.... I have seen several different photos and one cannot judge this to be a dog? or Raccoon?

A lot of BS, IMO - but I find that Plum - Tick - Lyme thing very astute.

Any animal infected with something on Plum - bitten by a tick that found its way off the island (short hop) and given 50 years to progress would exsplain Lyme...

[Pedaling Fool]

Is it possible? Yes. But nature is very capable of producing diseases such as this and it does so all the time; diseases evolve very quickly, that's just the ugly part of nature we humans have been somewhat separated from, thanks to science, technology and a very healthy environment provided by society.

My whole turn-off on this is that show, Conspriacy Theory w/ JV. I firmly believe that we vote not just in the ballot box, but with our wallets and when you watch shows like that you are voting with your wallet, i.e. you are giving them money. I won't give them any of my money. These people will distort things, in a sensational way, just for the profit.

[MissMagnolia]

I don't know if the link to the documentary works for you guys, I couldn't make it work, but I just Googled the title and watched the documentary on YouTube. Very interesting and paranoid making, but also good motivation to check yourself regularly and perhaps recognize if you've gotten infected and make sure you get treated early. The article by Badger is good, too.

http://zrdavis.com/lyme-disease-on-the-appalachian-trail/

[nitewalker]

and al gore was wrong about global warming, oh wait climate change..if the facts are there then we need to accept them....if they ran the tick experiment outdoors on plum island as the govt document points out then there is a strong possibility that some of the infected ticks hitched a ride on some birds over to the mainland. the map backs up the tick population and the spreading over the past yrs. the heavily infected area is new york, ct and surrounding areas. it takes time for pathogens and viruses to spread. just like when americans went west, it takes time to populate an area..sure lyme is all over but if it originated from plum island then it will take more time for the population to boom in other areas.....IMHO, LOL........I COULD BE TOTALLY WRONG, ITS JUST A THEORY....

[pdcolelli42]

Great link to the info on deer ticks and lymes. I was just planning on cruising through and not worrying. Now I probably will try to wear long sleeves and pants all tucked in. I still don't want to use bug spray though so pass on that. I'm also not cutting my hair, hopefully that won't hinder my ability to find the ticks. I never have had too many on my head though so I wonder if they're less likely there?

Also the presentation said it usually takes 36 hours to transmit.

[Migrating Bird]

Here is the best Tick Removal Tool I have ever used. http://www.otom.com/otom-tick-twister-hook Very easy to use and weighs nothing.

[Grumble]

I got Lyme Disease last June in Shenandoah Park and it wrecked my summer. It's nasty stuff.

[handlebar]

Several AT hikers the past two years felt they contracted Lyme's Disease in Shenandoah NP. The deer tick map from the OP really doesn't say northern VA is affected, but hikers think otherwise.
+1 on this. I'm fairly certain I contracted my case in N VA.

[ATsawyer]

Check the article on tick tubes, page 5. Lyme prevention begins at home:
http://www.patc.net/PublicView/Custom/Newsletter/PA-2012/March_2012.aspx

[Wise Old Owl]

Hey guys - I agree horrible sensationalism - but wow the island is less than 5 miles from the town.... well we are allow to think for ourselves.. FYI - a friend of mine put me on to this.... I am not a believer but have seen first hand evidence of 1950 crap in monkey testing on viruses local to Chester County,.

[bamboo bob]

This may be dumb, but can't you put flea and tick collars around your legs? Would that stop them?:confused:

Me and Poppa Smurf did that for a few hundred miles. Other hikers complained of the stink. Never got any ticks. Other trips I just checked often and pulled the suckers off me. My sister in law got Lyme in her harden. Still has problems fro it after many years. I think I've been lucky. Ticks spend their lives on a bush waiting to drop on you. I often use my poles to wack grass and brush ahead of me. Now I just use deet like a maniac.

[bamboo bob]

Got to love conspiracy theories. And I do love Jesse Ventura. Nixon shot JFK from behind the grassy knoll. Bush did 9/11. Space aliens,and the Easter Bunny!

Lyme Disease has spread with the explosion in deer population because of the reduced deer hunting in anti hunting areas like Connecticut. Some of the coastal islands like Martha's Vinyard in MA and Monhegan in Maine are over run with deer, deer ticks, and Lyme disease.

[Wise Old Owl]

me too............................................... .................................................. .................

[LDog]

... Lyme Disease has spread with the explosion in deer population because of the reduced deer hunting in anti hunting areas like Connecticut.

And the systematic killing of their natural predators, cougars and wolves.

[WWB]

In 2008 a Ridge Runner told me that the state trail organization that hired him also paid for the lyme vaccine. The few articles I have read state that the vaccine was pulled in 2002. Is the vaccine available if you know the right doctor?

[cabbagehead]

I don't check for ticks. I put permethrin and deet around the lip of my shoes. I cover my body with thin clothes covered thickly in permethrin, and I use deet.

[Halesy]

If I can add my two cents...

That tick that they say has to be on you for more than 30 hours before it can infect you...how long has it been feeding on something else before it got to you? Could he have scratched it off after 24 hours onto you couch where you sat down to pick it up?

That "bullseye" rash they say to look for... not everyone gets that. I think somewhere between 15% and 30% actually remember even seeing that.

Flu-like symptoms...who hasn't had those. Not feeling well, what do you do...self medicate with some ibuprofin and get some rest.

I spent two weeks in the hospital because of complacency. I'm in physical therapy now because the bacteria that got into my brain robbed me of my ability to walk and has played havok with my balance. My vision is back to normal and I still have a strange "super hypersensetivity" onmy right side.

If you get a tick on you...remove it, save it and get both you and it tested. If you can, insist on starting a cousre of antibiotics until the results come back. Waiting for symptoms to appear just sounds silly to me. Caught early enough, Lymes can be cured. Wait too long and you'll be treating it forever like me.

[coach lou]

If I can add my two cents...

That tick that they say has to be on you for more than 30 hours before it can infect you...how long has it been feeding on something else before it got to you? Could he have scratched it off after 24 hours onto you couch where you sat down to pick it up?

That "bullseye" rash they say to look for... not everyone gets that. I think somewhere between 15% and 30% actually remember even seeing that.

Flu-like symptoms...who hasn't had those. Not feeling well, what do you do...self medicate with some ibuprofin and get some rest.

I spent two weeks in the hospital because of complacency. I'm in physical therapy now because the bacteria that got into my brain robbed me of my ability to walk and has played havok with my balance. My vision is back to normal and I still have a strange "super hypersensetivity" onmy right side.

If you get a tick on you...remove it, save it and get both you and it tested. If you can, insist on starting a cousre of antibiotics until the results come back. Waiting for symptoms to appear just sounds silly to me. Caught early enough, Lymes can be cured. Wait too long and you'll be treating it forever like me.

Your 2 cents sounds like a million dollars. I have a friend with similar lyme related issues. He even needed a pacemaker for a short time.*knock*knock*......I myself skeve the little monsters and am extremely fastidious about checking even where I step.

[Winds]

Well, when I travel, any more than a week, I always take a general antibiotic with me.
Now it looks as though I will want Doxycycline (https://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000563/&rct=j&sa=X&ei=X3mAT4qYLcK9gAfp0sXuBw&ved=0CDUQ8Q4wAA&q=Doxycyclene&usg=AFQjCNEqG3KeNrvwZCJ5MAn7-xHAdkFbcg) as well for my thru-hike.

I wonder how hard this will be to get from my doctor prior to the hike...