Here is a good site to check out. It has the latest news articles that mention Lyme They tell you to the minute when they were published. And they have a board for communicating plus all the crackpot (maybe) Lyme remedies as ads along the edge.
Ann-OH
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2020
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Here is one of the latest from this site. How do you like the guy who recommends twisting the tick counter-clockwise???? Ann - OH
Pesky parasites arrive looking for flesh feast LymeBlog News and Personal Stories | 15 hrs ago The litany of spring -- April showers, May flowers -- has an unhappy addition: ticks. Comment?
Pesky parasites arrive looking for flesh feast Berkshire Eagle By Jack Dew, Berkshire Eagle Staff
Romeo, a Yorkshire terrier owned by Ann Schilling of Pittsfield, walks in Kervin Park in Pittsfield, an area with tall grass and open space, which can attract ticks.
Schilling has had to deal with ticks on her dogs already this year. Photo by Ben Garver / Berkshire Eagle Staff
Thursday, April 27 The litany of spring -- April showers, May flowers -- has an unhappy addition: ticks. When the temperature veers above freezing, it's feeding time for ticks, which are hungry after spending most of the winter in dormancy.
The parasites, some of which can live for 300 days without food, climb up the nearest tree branch or grass blade and wait for their meal to saunter by.
That could be you or your dog, and the consequences can be dire. Deer ticks are the source of Lyme disease, a condition which, if untreated, can lead to arthritis and neurological problems, among others.
"Six or seven years ago, we started seeing more and more deer ticks," said John Reynolds, a veterinarian at the Pittsfield Veterinary Hospital.
"Starting right around April 1 is when the ticks become very active again, and we start seeing them on people and pets."
Barbara Wohlfahrt, a vet with the Berkshire Veterinary Hospital in Pittsfield, said the past 10 days have seen a surge in cases of tick-bitten dogs.
"I think people were caught by surprise and haven't started using preventive medicine yet, but the ticks are out there," she said.
� How to prevent tick bites People can take basic precautions against tick-borne illnesses, says Dr. Bela Matyas, medical director of the DPH's department of epidemiology. 'Removing ticks in the first day or two will usually prevent the transmission of the disease,' Matyas said.
Cover your skin when coming in contact with leaves and ground cover.
Use tick repellent on the skin and on clothes.
And -- perhaps most importantly -- perform a daily check for ticks.
While there is a vaccine for Lyme disease in dogs, there is none for people.
One that was marketed several years ago was pulled after low sales and concerns that it carried health risks.
\Berkshire County has a higher incidence of Lyme disease than the statewide average, according to the Department of Public Health.
That's due to the combination of our rural geography, a large deer population and outdoor enthusiasts who put themselves in harm's way.
In 2005, there were 49 cases of Lyme disease for every 100,000 people in Berkshire County, according to DPH statistics, compared to a statewide average of 35 cases for every 100,000 residents.
Lyme disease in people is often accompanied by a rash. It can manifest itself with flu-like symptoms, including body aches and fever.
If any of these symptoms occur, Matyas said, patients should see a doctor as soon as possible.
The disease can be treated with a course of antibiotics, according to Dr. Bela Matyas, medical director of the DPH's department of epidemiology; however, he said that treatment works best if given within the first two weeks or so of the infection.
Otherwise, the disease can progress and become more difficult to treat, leading to arthritis, kidney problems and other ailments.
Matyas said there has been a push to increase awareness of another tick-borne disease: HGE, or human granulocytic ehrlichiosis.
Many of its symptoms -- fever, headache, chills, muscle aches and fatigue -- are similar to those of Lyme disease, and it is also treated by antibiotics.
Also like Lyme disease, there is no vaccine for HGE. Five cases were reported in Berkshire County in 2005, and 13 in the entire state.
Vets and doctors agree that the best method of removing a tick is to use tweezers or a similar device, grab the tick at the point where it makes contact with the skin and pull it out.
Wohlfahrt, of the Berkshire Veterinary Hospital, said "it seems to work best if you twist counter-clockwise."
If the tick's head remains in the skin, don't worry; it will fall out in a few days.
To prevent ticks from attaching to dogs, veterinarians recommend a treatment like Frontline or Advantix. Both are applied to the animal's skin.
Laura Jones, a veterinarian at Greylock Animal Hospital in North Adams, said she sometimes recommends that dogs who will be outside a lot be vaccinated twice a year against Lyme disease.
"Before we started vaccinating, we were seeing lot of Lyme disease, and now we almost never see it," Jones said. "But no vaccine is 100 percent effective."
Reynolds, of the Pittsfield Veterinary Hospital, said 10 percent of dogs bitten by deer ticks contract Lyme disease. Of those that get the disease, 10 percent can suffer life-threatening problems. Symptoms include lethargy, not eating and high fever, he said.
Cats are the lucky ones. For whatever reason, they are largely immune to Lyme disease. But vets caution that it is still important to remove ticks from cats.
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