Preventing Illness and Injury
Lyme Disease

Background

Ticks come in two sizes: tiny, hard to find and larger, easy to find. A tick may crawl around on its unsuspecting victim for several hours before it chews a small wound and anchors itself firmly for 2 - 5 days of blood-sucking. Often it leaves a nasty reminder of its visit: a disease causing "pathogen".

In the Sierra foothills up to 5000', in the spring there are ticks whose bite causes "undulating fever": a high fever that keeps spiking and returning and is very hard to rid.

Lyme Disease is obtained from a bacterium that is carried by the Western Black Legged Tick. The tick lives on the Dusky Footed Woodrat. The nymph (young) tick is usually the one that bites. It is very small, about the size of a poppy seed.

Lyme Disease is common in the Northeast where 70-90% of the ticks are infected. In the West only 2 - 5% carry the bacteria. In California the disease carrying ticks are prevalent in the humid northwestern coastal area and in the Sierra foothills. Locally they are situated in West Marin (Pt. Reyes National Seashore) and in certain regions of Contra Costa County, including Bollinger Canyon. About half of the Lyme Disease cases are contracted during the spring and early summer when the ticks, in their nymph stage, are most active.

Ticks climb to the tips of vegetation, often alongside animal trails or human paths, and wait for a victim to brush against them. A tick must be attached for about 48 hours in order to spread Lyme Disease.

Prevention

Clothing: Wear light-colored, long-sleeved shirt and long pants, with pants tucked into socks. The light coloring is to better see the dark colored tick before it reaches your skin.

Repellant: Use Deet, best applied to skin but also to clothing.

Avoidance: Steer clear of tall and dense grasses, trail margins and areas of thick, cool leaf litter.

Inspection: After a hike look for ticks by careful inspection of your total body skin, especially folds and crevasses. A partner will add much to an adequate check.

Removal: To remove a tick grasp it close to the skin with tweezers and gently pull it straight out. No twisting, yanking or crushing. Then gently scrub the wound with alcohol, soap and water, or antibiotic cream.

Specimen: Put the tick in a plastic bag or closed jar with alcohol and note the time and location. This could be important identification if you later develop the disease.

Symptoms: The first sign of the disease, within a month, is a "bull's eye" rash that shows up at your tick site, often accompanied by chills, fever, headache and maybe painful joints. Prompt treatment is totally effective; untreated, your infection can lead to severe arthritis, palsy and irregular heartbeat.