Lyme Disease is a tick-born bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans and pets by infected ticks.In 2007, Pennsylvania was second only to New York with 3,994 reported Lyme disease cases.The number of annual reported cases of Lyme disease in the United States has increased dramatically since national surveillance began in 1982.Much of ChesterCounty is rural and suburban, making it a prime habitat for deer ticks which can carry the Lyme disease bacteria.
Precautions should be taken in high risk area such as damp, grassy, or wooded regions or when outside for an extended period of time while doing yard work, gardening, hiking, etc.
Wear clothing that covers the skin and tuck loose pants into socks.
Wear light colored clothing because ticks are easier to spot and brush off.
Apply an insect repellent with 20-30% DEET to exposed skin other than the face and/or apply permethrin to clothes. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instruction.
Walk in the center of trails to avoid contact with overgrown grass and brush.
Use a high-heat dryer after washing clothes. This will kill most ticks that might have been attached to clothing.
Keep grass mowed and trees trimmed.
Remove brush or leaf piles accumulated around stone walls or wood piles.
Create a woodchip or mulch barrier between woodlands and your yard. Place swing sets and other play equipment in mulched areas away from surrounding woodland edges.
Most importantly, check yourself, your family, and your pets frequently for ticks.
Preventing Lyme disease can also be a community effort: The '4 Poster' Deer Treatment Bait Station is designed to kills ticks that feed on white-tailed deer.This method has shown up to a 98% effectiveness rate on eliminating blacklegged ticks. (American Lyme Disease Foundation).
Tick Removal
To remove ticks safely, use clean, fine point tweezers.Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull straight out. Click here for an illustration or watch the video below.
The video suggests using hemostat to remove ticks, but regular tweezers will suffice.
Preserve the tick if possible in case symptoms start to occur.The blacklegged tick, or deer tick, is the only tick known to carry and transmit Lyme disease to humans. Compare ticks common to our area.
Lyme disease is known as the "great imitator" because symptoms often mimic other ailments. Symptoms that occur within the first few weeks of a tick bite include:
If Lyme disease goes unnoticed, late stage symptoms can start to occur after a few months.They include, but are not limited to:
Loss of muscle tone
Irregular heart beats
Facial paralysis
Double vision
Request a Lyme Disease Presentation
The Health Department offers educational programs for adults and children on how Lyme Disease is transmitted and ways to prevent tick bites. The program also identifies different types of ticks and proper tick removal. Educational brochures and tick identification cards are available at the Health Department's Resource Center. For more information or to schedule a presentation, call 610-344-6490.
