Vermont in for another big Lyme disease season

A more likely reason has to do with the animals that carry ticks and how people are developing land, Tompkins said.

“We cleared much of the Northeast centuries ago and gradually over time that space has been reforested. We’ve now got these patches of forest which creates a wonderful habitat for white-footed mice and deer,” Tompkins said.

Only about 3 per cent of people who get Lyme need to go to the hospital, Tompkins said. But if left untreated, the long-term effects can be harrowing. Memory issues, mood swings, joint and muscle pain can all be felt long after the initial bite.

Ralph Budd, a research professor and doctor who runs the Vermont Center for Immunology and Infectious diseases at the University of Vermont Medical Center, investigates an advanced stage of Lyme that causes a type of arthritis. It affects about 10 per cent of people with Lyme.

The pain in their joints is from arthritic inflammation and is treated with the same type of anti-inflammatory medicine use for rheumatoid arthritis, Budd said. Very rarely, the disease can be fatal, he added.

Ticks will come out anytime it’s not freezing, Tompkins said. Light-colored and long shirts and pants help keep them visible and off the body.

Hunters swear by a chemical called permethrin, Tompkins said, which will kill ticks on contact and sticks to clothes through a few wash cycles.

Ticks take nearly a day to transmit the disease after they’ve latched on, Budd said.

“If you’re attentive you should be able to get a tick off before it transmits the disease,” he said.

Cory Dawson, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Vermont in for another big Lyme disease season

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