Reports of Lyme disease cases in the country have increased, with Pennsylvania having the most number of cases in the past few years, according to a recent study.
With summer fast approaching, people are starting to make plans for their outdoor activities. The warming weather, however, also entices various pests as the temperatures make for excellent breeding environment. One of these pests is the Lyme disease-carrying blacklegged tick, also known as deer ticks.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines Lyme disease as an illness caused by bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi, and it is mostly transmitted through bites from blacklegged ticks. Symptoms of the disease include fatigue, headache, fever and skin rash called erythema migrans.
The illness can affect the heart, the joints and the nervous system, especially if the infection is left untreated.
According to a report by the CDC, Lyme disease was the fifth most common notifiable disease in the country in 2013, mostly affecting fourteen states in the northeast and upper Midwest of the United States.
These are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, which had the most cases recorded.
Researchers from Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) conducted a research on the spread of Lyme disease in the state. They discovered that the population of blacklegged tick has significantly grown since the mid-1960s and has even reached areas that did not have deer ticks before.
John Quigley, DEP's acting secretary, believes that increase in the number of blacklegged ticks in various counties in Pennsylvania poses a high risk of Lyme disease to the people.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's acting physician general, Rachel Levine, also warned that the warm weather of summer could also cause people to be exposed to the pests more because they would prefer to spend time outdoors.
She said that people should wear protective clothing and apply insect repellent on their body when they are outdoors. They should also do a full body check to see if they have been bitten by insects.
Levine also recommends that parents should check their children for ticks. Taking a shower after two hours of exposure outdoors can also help prevent the transmission of the disease.
"If an individual has been bitten by a tick, we recommend that they remove the tick carefully with a set of fine tipped tweezers," Levine said.
"If an individual develops signs and symptoms of Lyme disease after a tick bite, we urge them to seek medical attention. Early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease may prevent late-stage complications."
The Department of Environmental Protection and Indiana University of Pennsylvania study is published [pdf] in the Oxford Journals.
Photo: Lennart Tange | Flickr
