Experts advise on how to prevent Lyme Disease

BY PAT FARNELLI
Correspondent

Three experts on Lyme Disease focused on how to avoid tick bites and where to seek medical help at a presentation Wednesday at the Harford Fire Hall, sponsored by the Susquehanna County Tick-Borne Diseases Task Force.

A tick borne diseases expert presented information on how ticks and their animal hosts can spread Lyme Disease and other pathogens; a community health nurse gave prevention tips and information on seeking diagnosis and treatment; and a veterinarian emphasized the need for keeping pets healthy rather than treating them after they get sick.

Forensic scientist Nicole Chinnici, M.S., presented a slide show on Lyme Disease and the various wildlife species which host ticks that carry diseases.
Chinnici is employed by the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory. At the lab, she is involved in multiple tick borne disease studies looking at Borreli burgdorferi and eight other tick-borne pathogens. Chinnici, who completed the Masters of Biology program at ESU, researched the genetics of black bear populations in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. She collected ticks from deer and bears at PA Game Commission hunting stations and tested them for pathogens. She discussed the three most common ticks found in northeast PA, what they look like, the pathogens they carry and transmit, as well as tick hosts such as white-footed mice, wild turkeys, black bear, and white tail deer. Deer bring ticks into yards, so reducing deer populations can help in lowering tick numbers. Mice are first-rate hosts for Lyme disease, and often have many deer ticks attached to them, Chennici said. Other infections that could be transmitted at the same time as Lyme disease include Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Bartonellosis, Powassan Fever, Mycoplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

The spring and summer months are the prime time for Lyme, but ticks can be mobile even when snow covers the ground. Chinnici said that deer ticks like cool, moist environments such as leaf litter, tall grass, and the edge of yards. Ticks have a life cycle of two years, going through stages of egg, larva, nymph, and adult. Ticks will raise themselves up and reach toward animals with their front legs, a behavior known as questing.

Audience members were urged to take precautions such as wearing long pants and long sleeved shirts, and to tuck the hems of pants into socks. Permethrin is a chemical that kills ticks and can be used to treat clothing. DEET products also repel ticks and other insects, and are available as sprays, wipes, or creams.

After being outdoors, perform a careful tick check and remove the insects with tweezers. Deer ticks are very small, like a poppy seed. Other ticks common to the area include the blacklegged tick, the lone star tick, and the American Dog Tick.

Symptoms of Lyme Disease include lethargy, fatigue, moodiness, anxiety, withdrawal from peers, headaches joint pain, twitching, dizziness, sleep disturbance, gastrointestinal problems, and difficulty focusing or maintaining a schedule.

Lyme can cause cognitive and mental health impairments as well.

For more information, websites include: International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society http://www.ilads.org/ https://lymedisease.org.

A local support group is available: montroselymegroup@gmail.com