As most people in the North Country are quickly learning, Lyme disease is now a concern for dogs and people who venture outdoors in our area.
Fifteen years ago, the only cases of Lyme disease came from outside our area. New England, the Hudson River Valley, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were hot spots and remain so.
We have now joined these areas as we have diagnosed approximately 300 cases at our three clinics in the last 10 years.
Since we have started vaccinating for Lyme (and more people have chosen to do so), we are seeing fewer new cases.
Prevention of Lyme disease is accomplished by vaccination, quick tick removal and tick prevention with various products such as Frontline.
Cornell’s leading expert on Lyme recommends all three strategies, as none of these are perfect.
The life cycle of the deer tick does not start with the deer. Deer ticks hatch from eggs on vegetation.
For the females to reach sexual maturity they need to feed on a mouse, drop off, feed on a mouse again, drop off and finally on a deer.
These three feedings take two years. The feedings on mice allow the Lyme bacteria (Borrelia) to enter the tick.
The deer tick will feed on any warm body, thus the threat to people, dogs and horses. Cats are almost always immune.
When ticks attach, they draw in a blood meal which transforms the Lyme bacteria into a motile form which can then enter the body. This take about two days, so quick removal will prevent infection.
The dog vaccine creates antibodies which enter the tick with a blood meal and hopefully kills all bacteria in the tick.
There are occasional cases where massive numbers of bacteria “heavy tick infection” can result in Lyme disease despite vaccination. I have only seen this happen twice so far.
There is no vaccine for horses so daily exams for removal and pyrethrin sprays can reduce cases of Lyme disease in horses.
People who have symptoms of Lyme Disease (variable) such as joint and muscle pain, fever, headache, etc. may have a blood test done.
Remember the first blood test can result in 25% false negatives, so a second test (western blot) is recommended if the first is negative.
Quick treatment gives a good response where as those cases that are allowed to progress over long periods can result in chronic health problems.
Hopefully more people will become more Lyme disease aware.
By taking the necessary steps we will have fewer cases of Lyme in dogs, horses and people.
