How Do You Catch Lyme Disease

Treatment Following A Tick Bite

• In some circumstances, a single dose of antibiotic given within 72 hours of a tick bite might prevent the development of Lyme disease. Several criteria must be met:
• The tick must be identified as the blacklegged tick .
• The tick must have been attached for at least 36 hours .
• The tick bite occurred in a highly endemic area

How Can You Get Lyme Disease From A Tick

• 1.11 What Are The Chances Of A Tick Carrying A Disease?

How can you get lyme disease from a tickThe Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, is spread through the bite of infected ticks. The blacklegged tick spreads the disease in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States. The western blacklegged tick spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast.

What Can Be Done To Prevent Lyme Disease Flare

The first key to living with Chronic Lyme disease is finding a doctor and treatment regimen that works for you. Treatment and methods of prevention through lifestyle are different for every patient. However, there are some general guidelines, which anyone with Chronic Lyme could follow to promote a healthier lifestyle and thus, less flares.

Lyme disease is a sad fact of the world we live in. Chronic sufferers face a lifetime of health maintenance and treatment. Lyme disease flare-ups can really affect physical and emotional well-being.

Consider year-round tick control for the prevention of Lyme, and seek immediate medical attention if you believe you have been bitten by an infected tick.

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Symptoms: As The Infection Spreads

If the disease goes untreated in its early stages, over several weeks or months it can spread to other areas of the body like your:

• Joints
• Heart
• Nervous system

You could also have more rashes and periods of pain and weakness in your arms or legs. Other symptoms include:

• Facial muscle paralysis
• Headache
• Inflamed brain and spinal cord

What Are The Clinical Signs Of Lyme Disease

Some people with Lyme disease develop a characteristic bull’s-eye rash at the site of the bite within three to thirty days. If this occurs, the disease can be easily diagnosed at an early stage.

However, signs of Lyme disease are more difficult to detect in animals than in people. The characteristic rash does not develop in dogs or cats. In fact, Lyme disease is practically unheard of in cats.

“Affected dogs have been described as if they were walking on eggshells.”

Many dogs affected with Lyme disease are taken to a veterinarian because they seem to be experiencing generalized pain and have stopped eating. Affected dogs have been described as if they were walking on eggshells. Often these pets have high fevers. Dogs may also begin limping. This painful lameness often appears suddenly and may shift from one leg to another. If untreated, it may eventually disappear, only to recur weeks or months later.

Some pets are infected with the Lyme disease organism for over a year before they finally show symptoms. By this time, the disease may be widespread throughout the body. Non-specific signs which may indicate that Lyme disease is affecting the kidneys include vomiting, lethargy, anorexia , and weight loss. The kidney form of the disease is less common, but often fatal.

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What Tests Are Available For Lyme Disease

When a person becomes infected, the body creates antibodies to protect itself from the bacteria. Certain blood tests are available to measure these antibodies. However, sometimes a “false negative” test can result if there are not enough antibodies in the blood for the tests to detect accurately. A doctor should also do a complete medical examination and gather information about your recent outdoor activities in order to make a clinical diagnosis for Lyme disease.

What Can A Workplace Or Home Do To Reduce The Presence Of Ticks

Keep the lawn and yard well maintained to prevent ticks from living near the home or workplace.

• Keep the grass mowed. Trim trees and shrubs.
• Remove leaf litter, brush, and weeds at the edge of the lawn, and around stonewalls and woodpiles.
• Clean up and seal stonewalls and small openings around the home to help discourage rodents.
• Keep stacked firewood piles and bird feeders away from buildings.
• Keep any pets, particularly dogs, out of the woods and talk to your veterinarian about tick repellents for your pets.
• Move children’s swing sets and sandboxes away from the woodland’s edge and use a woodchip or mulch foundation.
• Consider using hard landscape items such as woodchips, mulch, stones, gravel, tile, or metals.
• Create a border or barrier between the lawn, woods, or stonewalls to discourage deer and rodent activity.
• Widen woodland trails.

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How Can You Prevent Lyme Disease

The best way to protect against Lyme disease is to prevent tick bites. Check the detailed risk areas map to find out where infected ticks are most likely to be found. Remember, as tick populations spread, the risk of acquiring Lyme disease will occur outside these areas in the future. Ticks can be dispersed out of these areas by migratory birds so there is a low risk of being bitten by a tick outside of the known risk areas.

It is recommended that Canadians travelling to highly Lyme endemic areas of the US and Europe, apply permethrin treatments to their clothing or use clothing pre-treated with permethrin. These products can be obtained in some travel clinics or from outdoors retailers when in the US.

Ticks can be infected with more than one type of bacteria that can cause human illness. Guarding against tick bites will protect you from more than just Lyme disease.

Here are some ways to protect yourself if you venture into wooded or forested areas within risk areas for Lyme disease:

How You Get Lyme Disease

If a tick bites an animal carrying the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, the tick can become infected. The tick can then transfer the bacteria to a human by biting them.

Ticks can be found in any areas with deep or overgrown plants where they have access to animals to feed on.

They’re common in woodland and moorland areas, but can also be found in gardens or parks.

Ticks don’t jump or fly. They climb on to your clothes or skin if you brush against something they’re on. They then bite into the skin and start to feed on your blood.

Generally, you’re more likely to become infected if the tick is attached to your skin for more than 24 hours. Ticks are very small and their bites are not painful, so you may not realise you have one attached to your skin.

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Are Some Locations More At Risk Than Others

Yes and no. There are areas in which the bacteria is endemic meaning the disease is established and present more or less continually in that community.

In Canada, blacklegged tick populations have been confirmed or are growing in the following areas:

• Southern British Columbia.
• Southern New Brunswick and Grand Manan Island.
• South shore and northern mainland Nova Scotia.

However, it is important to note that ticks can be spread by birds, in particular songbirds that feed off the forest floor. Because these birds are migratory, there is the potential for new populations of the bacteria to spread across the country. This fact means that you do not have to be in an endemic or high-risk area to be at risk of contacting ticks and the disease.

Do I Have Lyme Disease Symptoms And Latest News

August 23, 2017 by Allene EdwardsLast updated on: August 23, 2017

Are you suffering from fever, chills, headaches, fatigue, muscle pain, joint pain, and swollen lymph nodes? Do you have a bulls eye rash? Were you bitten by a tick in the last 30 days? If you live in the Northeast or the upper Midwest, you may have contracted Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that infects up to 300,000 Americans each year.

If left untreated, symptoms can escalate to severe headaches and neck stiffness a spreading rash severe joint pain and swelling facial palsy irregular heartbeat dizziness shortness of breath nerve, tendon, muscle, joint, and bone pain inflammation of the brain and spinal cord numbness or tingling in the hands or feet, and problems with short-term memory.

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Who Gets Lyme Disease

Anyone bitten by an infected deer tick can get Lyme disease. Most U.S. cases of Lyme disease happen in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin. But Lyme disease is found in other parts of the world, too.

Besides living in one of these areas, other things that might increase your risk include:

• spending a lot of time outdoors in tall grass, brush, shrubs, or wooded areas
• having pets that may carry ticks indoors
• activities such as yardwork, hiking, camping, fishing, or hunting in tick-infested areas

How Do I Know If I Have A Tick Bite

Many people who develop the disease do not remember seeing ticks or being bitten. Tick bites commonly occur from May to September in North America, although blacklegged ticks can be active most of the year. Ticks sometimes move around on the body but they usually attach themselves to the skin and stay in one place. Before feeding, ticks look like small, brown scabs or freckles. After feeding, ticks may swell considerably, and could be as big as a raisin or a small grape.

Follow the link for more information about blacklegged ticks from the Government of Canada.

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Tick Prevention For Your Pet

While Lyme disease transmission is possible in cats, it does not seem to have the same type of effects on cats and is much less common. Dogs regularly go outside and often love exploring, so they likely will be more at risk for tick bites and Lyme disease transmission than indoor pets.

Ticks prefer tall grass, so keep your lawn trimmed short and clear of leaf litter. Treating your own lawn will help reduce the risk of ticks, but its unfortunately impossible to treat all areas where you might take your dog for exercise and socialization, such as a public dog park. So try to keep your dog out of uncut grass and check them regularly for ticks if you find one, remove it completely as soon as possible.

Monthly topicals, chewables or flea and tick collars can treat and control ticks, as well as fleas and other pests. Make sure to speak to your dogs veterinarian about which treatment option is most ideal for your pet.

Lyme disease can be a serious illness in both pets and humans. While there is no reason to worry that Lyme disease is contagious, its important to stay vigilant about tick exposure to you and your pet.

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What Are The Chances Of A Tick Carrying A Disease

: Shots Health News The chance of catching Lyme disease from an individual tick ranges from zero to roughly 50 percent . Three factors matter: the tick species, where it came from and how long the tick was feeding. A blacklegged tick like this one can be hard to spot. A blacklegged tick like this one can be hard to spot.

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Odds Of Catching Lyme Disease From A Tick Bite

The chance of catching Lyme disease from an individual tick ranges from roughly zero to 50 percent. Risk of contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite depends on three factors: the tick species, where the tick came from, and how long it was biting you. Thats why the sooner you can remove the entire tick, the lower your chances of contracting a tick-borne disease.

Where we live makes a difference in these odds, too. We live in the upper Midwest, and unfortunately for us, a recent study found that up to 50 percent of blacklegged ticks are infected with Lyme disease. The Centers for Disease Control, however, state that it takes a tick 36 to 48 hours attached to the skin to transmit symptoms from tick bites and tick-borne disease.

Whether or not that timeframe is true, I cant say for sure. But I can say that Lyme disease is preventable, and taking a proactive approach to avoiding tick bites can save you a lot of aggravation. If you do spot a tick on yourself or your child, take them to the doctor or Firelands Regional Medical Center QuickCare, where they may be prescribed antibiotics. You can even opt to have the tick tested for Lyme disease.

Most of the time tick bites are harmless and symptoms from tick bites are rare. However general symptoms from tick bites include:

Dr. Mark Schmiedl

• Pain or swelling on the bite site
• Burning sensation on the bite site
• Blisters

• Red spot or rash near the bite site
• Full body rash
• Muscle or joint pain or achiness
• Fever

What Are The Stages Of Lyme Infection

There are three stages:

• Early localized Lyme: Flu-like symptoms like fever, chills, headache, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, and a rash that looks like a bull’s-eye or is round and red and at least 2 inches long
• Early disseminated Lyme: Flu-like symptoms like pain, weakness, or numbness in your arms and legs, changes in your vision, heart palpitations and chest pain, a rash , and a type of facial paralysis known as Bellâs palsy
• Late disseminated Lyme: This can happen weeks, months, or years after the tick bite. Symptoms might include arthritis, severe fatigue and headaches, dizziness, trouble sleeping, and confusion.

About 10% of people treated for Lyme infection donât shake the disease. They may go on to have three core symptoms: joint or muscle pain, fatigue, and short-term memory loss or confusion. This is called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. It can be hard to diagnose because it has the same symptoms as other diseases. Plus, there isn’t a blood test to confirm it.

Experts arenât sure why Lyme symptoms donât always go away. One theory is that your body keeps fighting the infection even after the bacteria are gone, like an autoimmune disorder.

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How Do I Avoid Getting Bitten By A Tick

The best way to protect you against Lyme disease and other tickborne illnesses is to avoid tick bites. This includes avoiding tick-infested areas. However, if you live in or visit wooded areas or areas with tall grass and weeds, follow these precautions against Lyme disease and other tickborne diseases like Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis and tularemia:

Why Is Lyme Disease Increasing

One reason for the increase in cases of Lyme disease may be due to many environmental factors. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the stress we endure, and our constant exposure to chemicals and electromagnetic fields all affect the immune system and our ability to fight disease without the additional aid of pharmaceuticals, herbs, or supplements.

But its not just our ability to fight off the disease that is a factor. It is also spreading in the wild.

Ecologists Felicia Keesing and Rick Ostfeld predict 2017 will be a bad year due to a plague of mice in the Hudson River Valley. After studying Lyme disease for 20 years, they have found the mice population to be a good predictor of disease activity.

New research suggests the loss of predators such as foxes and martens is a major factor in mice population control. Red foxes and martens feed on small rodents, including the whitefooted mice known to carry the Lyme bacteria. In areas with a higher number of these predators data shows a huge reduction in the number of infected ticks.

Opossums also help control ticks. Although they do eat mice, their impact is due to their fastidiousness. Like cats, opossums carefully groom themselves, swallowing ticks as they pull them from their fur an estimated 5,000 ticks per season.

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