To Avoid Lyme Disease, Follow These Six Tips

Image: The life cycle of the Blacklegged tick, which carries Lyme disease (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

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The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has declared May as “Lyme Disease Awareness Month” in the county. The board’s proclamation notes that incidents of Lyme disease increase in warm weather, when people and pets spend more time outdoors, and it encourages residents to take precautions against the disease.

People can decrease their risk of acquiring Lyme and other tick-borne diseases when spending time outdoors by taking these steps:

• taking a bath or shower as soon as possible after coming indoors;
• conducting a tick check on themselves and their children upon return from potentially tick-infested areas and promptly removing any ticks;
• wearing light-colored clothing so that ticks are easier to see and remove;
• tucking pant legs into socks or boots; tucking shirts into pants;
• wearing long-sleeved shirts buttoned to the wrist;
• and applying tick repellant to exposed areas of the body and to clothing that may come into contact with grass or brush.

Always be aware of conditions outdoors. The director of the Loudoun County Health Department recently told radio station WTOP that any time people go outside in Loudoun, they are entering a tick habitat - not just when they go to a park or trail.

What Is Lyme Disease?

Loudoun County is home to the third largest number of Lyme cases in the nation. Lyme disease is the fastest spreading tick-borne disease in the U.S., with an estimated 300,000 new cases each year.

Lyme disease is caused by a spirochetal infection transmitted by the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. Infected people often test negative for Lyme disease.

If left untreated, infection can cause severe neurological, cardiac and arthritic problems. Early detection and treatment is vital.

In 2013, Loudoun County launched the Loudoun Targets Lyme initiative. Since then, thousands of residents have received information on steps they can take to stay safe from Lyme disease through the webpage www.loudoun.gov/loudountargetslyme, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/loudountargetslyme, through information sent home from school and at venues throughout the county.

A 3-D Tick-Safe model that demonstrates ways people can minimize the presence of ticks on their property is on display in the lobby of the Loudoun County Government Center, at 1 Harrison St. S.E. in Leesburg.

More information about ways to prevent Lyme disease is online at www.loudoun.gov/lyme.