Is this even the right way to ask to the question? Is living in town in general better than in the country regardless of location?

Are there any reliable statistics on this?

That's what the CDC told my husband in 1996 when I was bit. Antarctica is the only place where Lyme has not shown up.

I think our best bet is to clean up our planet, starting with cleaning up our own body, our water, our food.

I really would like to know the answer to your question.

Keep searching.

However, as sick as I was with lyme from tick bites in the Ozarks, I was knocked even flatter by West Nile Virus that I got here in Colorado. Maybe I was more susceptible to encephalitis because I'd had it before.

But overall, Colorado has very few bugs. One of the reasons I moved here was because I was so allergic to pesticides and everyone was constantly spraying in Missouri. I have been much healthier overall.

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Originally posted by shelley:
The safest place I can think of is on a saiboat on the ocean!

I don't think living in town is any safer. They have to clear the land to build neighborhoods etc. and unless they burn the land first I doubt this gets rid of any ticks. In fact you may have more of a problem because the ticks have to find new hosts as opposed to the animals that formely lived in the woods!

I was just visiting a friend in Miami Florida and I saw way more ticks just outside his back door than I do out here in the woods in SC.

I guess it depends on where you're looking though, but I wouldn't rely on statistics, nor just by asking people that live in the particular state or place you're inquiring about.

For example my friends roomate thought their ticks were fleas!

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One could stand naked in a dark room, eat only pastuerized food, and use a kleenex whenever you have to touch something.

Or maybe we can assume there are no safe areas in the world. So the question now becomes, how do we best protect ourselves. Wear protective clothing all the time, spray ourselves whenever we go out, treat our yards, check our pets. Stay on concrete away from trees and shrubs.

We're not only talking about protecting ourselves but also our families, friends, pets.

I think the boat idea is the best one yet, except you do have to go on land occasionally to restock supplies, or maybe to just feel terra firma every once in a while. Lots of mosquitoes usually around boat harbors, not to mention sand fleas and no-see-ums if you swim in. (I think I got lyme from sand fleas, but can't prove it. My llmd, top well known name, doesn't doubt it, but says there are no studies to prove it yet.)

I encourage you to brainstorm with me here. I think this is important for all of us. No suggestion is too silly, just try to be practical and state the pros and cons for all our benefit.

After all we've gone through I think we all should be better prepared at avoiding reinfections or new infections.

Moved to VA a year and a half ago and was bit in MD doing a 5K run through a neighborhood.

So, I think New Mexico is pretty safe. Maybe not 100% but a heck of a lot safer than the East or West coast.

Has anyone on Lymenet been infected in NM?
I havent heard of one yet.

Am considering relocating - my options are wide open. How do I find out what my risks are? Official reporting does not seem to be reliable.
Is this even the right way to ask to the question? Is living in town in general better than in the country regardless of location?

Are there any reliable statistics on this?

I'VE BEEN WONDERING THE SAME THING! I'd love to know.

I was bitten when I was 12 but not sure if I actually got lyme from that bite. Another possibility was when I lived in Houston and Northern California.

If you ask a doc here or people in this state they don't think lyme exists here (we know thats not true).

What about Alaska? I've been there in June and remember it being very cool and I don't remember getting bitten by anything.

Another considration is economy and what you do for a living.

Great Question!! As a geologist, I have lived all across the US and in many different countries.

From what I have seen, the deserts are the best, although I've seen some monster ticks in the Gobi! But there are the tradeoffs, like scorpions and snakes. But over all, deserts with the least vegetation are the best.

GiGi is right, the artic regions might be the actual safest on the planet. Have been to Antartica also...no ticks!

What about Greenland or Iceland?

Honduras is bad, in one area ticks were falling from the foliage, and were so numerous..it sounded like rain!

Personally, I would just live where you want and be careful. During tick season, stay away from brush and and tall grass. Use a tick/insect repellent when you need to venture into the hinterland.

As for Colorado, my local dentist here in VA told me he had a cousin who got LD there from a tick, and he went deaf, blind, and died, fairly quickly.

I admit I'm terrified about going out in my yard and woods at my home since I got LD. I have gotten 3 deer ticks on me since the one that infected me with LD and rocky mtn. spotted fever a year and a half ago. I had some blood work done recently to see if I had picked up any additional co-infections. Apparently not.

Caveman

The problem is, it's ALWAYS tick season for one species of tick or another. For some foolish reason I had thought it was only in the spring that the nymphs and larva were going about. However, I read a study on the ticks in leaf litter and discovered that depending on the species of tick, those little guys can out even during the fall and winter when I thought it was safer to go about because the ticks were all grown then and easier to find. Wrong! I really hate I read that study because it totally destroyed my false optimism that there was a 'safe' time of year that I would be able to go and do things outdoors if I wanted. Bummer.

Oh, and others were talking about which places were safest to live...tough question. Even if you do find some place that is a nice climate and safe from ticks you still encounter so many other blood sucking, disease transferring bugs. I think that deeper in the south (Mexico? South America?) there is a Chagas bug (spelled something like that) which is extremely dangerous and feeds on you at night while you are sleeping then slips away.

Also, certain species of stink bugs are predatory and will feed on human blood. There was some program on the Nature channel a long time ago that told the story of a man in CA who almost died from an allergic reaction to their bites. He didn't even know he was being bitten on a regular basis by the bugs until he became so ill. I can't fully remember the story but I think it was something like the bugs had set up housekeeping in his couch and had their meals delivered whenever he would lay down on the couch. A bug can't ask for much more than that!

I don't mind BIG ticks as much as I do these teeny tiny ones. If it has some size then I have a chance of seeing it and protecting myself. It's these dot sized wonders that scare me. I pretty much feel the same about snakes and wild cats - at least I have a chance to SEE them so, if nothing else, I know what got me!

It would be a total violation of the life cycle if we didn't provide a meal for one creature or another...

Oh, and then there are the vampire bats...brrrr. Makes me cringe to even think about a secret visit from one of those!

I will most likely be moving to upstate NY..around the Albany region...

does anybody know what the tick situation is like in that area??

Unfortunately, I am extremely paranoid right now...

If the news is bad, please break it too me gently..

CO really isn't all that safe either

In this area (NY, Ducthess county) there are lots of ticks but there is also lots of information and local GPs and specialists are more likely to diagnose & treat Lyme.

I've thought about this too.

Except...

There's also the fact that if you move somewhere that is close to Lyme-free and you have Lyme, you then become a vector for spreading Lyme in that area.

That's not very nice.