Posted on 09/18/2007 3:05:38 PM PDT by neverdem
In Warren Township, fearless deer stride across front lawns to nibble on grass and shrubs. They waltz up to front porches of million-dollar homes to sample the potted plants. Sometimes only repeated blasts of the car horn will clear the driveway.
Along with these four-legged symbols of bucolic suburban life comes a dreaded illness: Lyme disease. In some cases, entire families are being diagnosed with tick-borne ailments, and residents are demanding that their towns and counties do something. In many towns, Lyme disease is becoming not just a medical issue but a potent political one.
About 20 neighbors in a section of Warren near Route 78 joined together to pressure local officials at a recent town council meeting. They called for the town to reduce the deer population -- since ticks feast on the large mammals -- and to protect children who play on tick-infested town parks or school fields. They want the state and county to step in, too.
"Lyme disease is one of the biggest diseases in suburbia," said Brian Oakes, a financial trader who is one of the Warren neighbors. "But there is no focus on this on the state or county level. They don't even test the soccer fields where our kids play. Are our children at risk playing soccer?"
Lyme activism is not new. But the latest burst is coming on the municipal level as some neighborhoods discover the prevalence of the disease and people complain of joint pain, debilitating fatigue and mental confusion associated with it.
In Warren, the buzz started at bus stops, nursery schools, neighborhood functions, even bar mitzvahs.
"You find out that people aren't feeling well, especially some of the young mothers," said Debbie Floyd, a homemaker in Warren with two children. "They have odd symptoms, like fibromyalgia," a poorly understood...
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
That was in SE Pa. in the late 60s and every doctor’s office had some vaccine.
Seems like Lyme disease is the disease of the day now.
Are ticks an endangered species?
These people are looking for trouble.
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=67160&fr=yvmtf
I’m pretty much having to sit this season out with hip operations. The biggest innovation in archery in the last 10 years or so is the HCA ultralight arrow and shooting them does not harm other manufacturers’ bows. Typical gain in speed is around 60 fps.
The laws of unintended consequences will not be denied.
Lymme is a tick borne parasite in a parasite.
Deer is just a temporary host..
I hope to God you're not a doctor, bcse everything you just said is WRONG.
People rarely, if ever, feel bites from deer ticks. That's why every expert stresses the importance of tick checks when people have been out in lyme-endemic areas. In many cases, people don't realize they've been bitten until they develop a rash.
The lyme bull's-eye is NOT always noticeable. Often, it's in a location where it goes unnoticed, like the scalp, behind the ear, or other unmentionable places that people fail to study on a regular basis. In the case of deer tick nymph bites, the rash may be too small to be noticed. Further, the rash doesn't always present as a classic bull's-eye. It's often mistaken for a simple spider bite or ringworm in people who mount a weak defense to the bacteria.
We have a good friend who went on vacation in Tennessee, and while she was there got a bug bite on her leg. She didn’t think anything of it and returned to Michigan. 18 months later, after doctors had been baffled, they finally figured out what it was. She had stage 4 Lyme disease and was sleeping 23 hours a day and taking heavy prescription drugs to deal with the pain and everything else. They put her on very strong IV antibiotics. It took over 10 years for her to get the meds right and to make a complete recovery. It’s very, very nasty stuff.
I'd bet there are still several more diseases to be diagnosed that find ticks as the vector. Lyme, Oklahoma Tick fever, RMSP, Ehrlichiosis, and who knows what....
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Good information.
I never felt a tick and actually think other vectors may have transmitted it. Contracted in spring 91, diagnosed fall 92 and disabled by it winter 99.
It’s more an issue of ticks on mice in my book and insecticide treated cotton balls that they take back to their nests is good treatment.
Sorry, chief. I've got hundreds of folks that have given me first hand evidence. A deer tick bite is painful. At the very least, it feels like a needle stick and digging around with the needle.
"That's why every expert stresses the importance of tick checks when people have been out in lyme-endemic areas."
Experts, yeah. Do a double blind and find me one that can sit still while a deer tick bites them.
"In many cases, people don't realize they've been bitten until they develop a rash."
I've never met one yet. Those that developed the rash, knew damn well a tick, or something was there before the rash came. Most often, they'll feel some noticeable pain in the eve, or in bed. Since the tick is <1/2 mm initially, most can't see the tick.
"The lyme bull's-eye is NOT always noticeable."
Assuming a normal immune system, it's noticeable and painful.
"In the case of deer tick nymph bites, the rash may be too small to be noticed."
No. The bite itself leaves a red welt that's noticeably painful, both when the tick's in, and after it's out.
"Further, the rash doesn't always present as a classic bull's-eye. It's often mistaken for a simple spider bite or ringworm in people who mount a weak defense to the bacteria."
It can't be mistaken for a spider bite by a knowledgeable person. A spider bite has 2 holes and most often hemorrhages. Only an idiot would mistake a tick, or lyme lesion for ringworm.
I had this crap for 8 months before someone, my wife , mentioned that I was dragging around like a old moose looking for a grave yard.
I shoot deer with a 177 air rifle. I try to gut shoot...... I have electrified my whole property.. Love it when their cute wet nose makes contact.. ZAPPPPPPP!
Pain is usually not mentioned as a symptom. You're welcome to explore the following links from the CDC and IDSA.
You are incorrect. Check any online or offline medical source you want, ticks carrying lyme disease can be attached for up to several days before you notice, if you notice the engorged sac at all, and the “bullseye” is not seen in over a half of diagnosed Lyme disease cases.
I’ve contracted Lyme 4 years ago and had no indication of a tick bite. I live in an area where Lyme disease is native, we are due west of Old Lyme, Connecticut, with almost exactly the same deer habitat, but much greater deer density. Been aware of tick bite prevention and what lyme bites look like since i was a wee kid. Anyway, I’ve seen plenty of active people who didn’t see or feel or have any indication of a bite who have been diagnosed with Lyme disease.
Employ a modern compound bow for the deer, if you must, DD, but I’d prefer .22 rimfire. Birdshot pepper to the face, to annoy them into moving on, and/or slightly quietened subsonic velocity rounds to the body, if necessary. Not as many clean kills, but no arrows to retrieve or explain.
The pain comes from the tick bite itself. In addition to the fact that the deer tick puntures, digs in and sets off the nerves by stretching the hole, the deer tick's saliva gets in there and is a major cause of the pain. Wood ticks don't cause that kind of pain, because their saliva doesn't cause hte same response. As I said above, I've talked to over 200 people regarding their experience. Many of them had lyme. I've had over 150 deer tick bites this season alone.
One can miss the initial bite, if they're bitten when they're active. They'll miss the crawling sensation, and the needle stick when they start the bite. They continue to bury in deep, and suck. After an hour, or so, the pain will begin.
I couldn't see the second link. The first one was a gov link. They're generally overly simple, and basically say, "go see a doc". Of course those are lyme sites. say they were about west nile, would they describe the experience of a mosquito bite? I noticed some small children can't feel the things land and stick. Most adults can, and they feel the bite afterwords. I've had over 25 today alone and felt each one.
With regard to the pain caused by tick bites, if you search and find quality sites on ticks, you'll probably find a note about a deer tick's saliva. With regard to the pain in a lyme lesion, I don't see how anyone with a normal immune system and nerves wouldn't notice the at least an itch, but more likely the pain from the broken capillaries and local inflamation. The nerves should be set off from that.
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