Rob and list,
In the interest of public education and the prevention of spreading bad info, I submit the following in response to Rob's post:
First, Rob is right about the seriousness of Lyme's. It can be debiliationg, even fatal. The organism responsible for Lyme's is a spiral-shaped bacillus called a "spirochete". The critter has the habit of seeking places in your body where it can hide from your immune system. Joint spaces are a favorite. There may or may not be an initial rash and response to infection. Tick bites contain many substances which cause itching, swelling, and discomfort. There is an anti-coagulant substance which gets injected with the bite that keeps the blood flowing, and it diffuses rapidly into the tissues, causing redness and itching. The infectious critters may or may not cause additional problems, and you may not realize that you have been infected. Once the initial irritation passes, the disease, if present, can enter a dormant state, building number and strength as it hides from the body's defenses. Immediate treatment and diagnosis is important.
There is no real defined "tick season" so to speak. Ticks are present outdoors all year. The critter undergoes change from a tiny larva to a grown adult in several phases, taking a season to do so. It bites at all of these stages, and often, a warm day in December or January is enough to awaken them and make them active again. I am often bitten in deer season if I sit on the ground, and my dog brings them in year round.
It is not true that Lyme's causes no problems in dogs. It can be just as debilitating in a dog as in a human.
Dogs have immune systems that are made to cope with such things better, but they can be overwhelmed by repeated bites and infections. Get them tested and treated too!
Mosquitos and other biting flies and insects are not currently suspected of transmitting Lyme's, because most organisms like this one are quite "host specific". In the case of Lyme's, the original resevoir of infection is the red flea that lives on the deer mouse. (often called the white footed mouse) How it jumps from infected mouse to tick, thence to man, is at yet unclear, but suffice it to say that the tick is necessary to complete the infectious cycle, when it engorges on human or animal blood. Much about the tick and its life cycle are still to be learned. There may also be other arthropods similar to the tick which help spread the disease. Mites and chiggers are likely suspects because they feed in much the same way. I noticed that most of the surviving ticks at Aberdeen were dog ticks, not deer ticks. Dog ticks are the ones with the white marking. Deer ticks are a bit smaller as adults, shinier, and reddish brown in color, lighter than the dog tick. While the dog ticks!
also carries diseases, it is no
t currently a suspect in the spread of lyme's.
Once you and your animals have been to a temperate zone that supports ticks, it is easy to transport them back home in clothing, fur, and bedding. You are not safe because you live in a frigid area. Ticks are tough little sob's, and have a natural antifreeze that allows them to survive the deep freeze.
Instead of panicking, I suggest proper precautions when entering a tick infested area. There are good blocking agents that prevent them from biting a dog, and excellent repellents for people as well. When you are going to be outdoors, you must come prepared! There is no season in which you will otherwise be safe from ticks and other pests. We live in a world which is unclean and unsafe and imperfect. We have also evolved along with these things, and in most cases, there is a remedy.
Enjoy the outdoors, folks, and don't let the threat of a tick bite keep you home! Deal with it like everything else dangerous in life.
Jack, long time Lyme's sufferer, who wishes he had good info back then!
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