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Conditions ripe for tick outbreak, experts warn Factors include warm winter, rain
By LAUREN DALEY,
Standard-Times staff writer
MAY 15, 2006
During the summer of 1999, Kevin Shea loved to run down at Westport Harbor. He'd run five or six miles, or bike 30 miles every day, and on the weekends,
he'd swim a quarter of a mile in the ocean down near Elephant Rock Beach. Then, one day, he could barely walk.
"After I got Lyme disease, I couldn't even walk a half-mile. I was so tired. I'd force myself to go out and exercise, I'd go half a mile and say, 'Oh my God. I can't make it home.' Then I'd have to sleep an hour on the couch just to recover."
Mr. Shea, of Westport, said he's just barely "back to 90 percent" seven years after he contracted Lyme disease.
Mr. Shea's story is not unique here in SouthCoast.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a huge increase in Lyme disease has occurred recently, and experts warn that this summer, we may face the "perfect storm" for Lyme disease.
First, because of an unusually warm winter, an unusually high number of ticks probably have survived and reproduced.
Second, a high number of small mammals, the main carriers of the disease, have also survived the warm winter.
Now, the recent deluge of rain is making the situation worse - ticks thrive in moist conditions.
Bottom line: This summer, SouthCoast could see an outbreak of Lyme disease.
"There seems to be a number of indicators that this year will be heavy for Lyme disease," said Pat Smith, the president of the National Lyme Disease Association, based in New Jersey.
She spoke to The Standard-Times from New Jersey yesterday, although the association does have a chapter on Cape Cod.
Ms. Smith said that over the years, there have been more and more reported cases of Lyme.
According to the CDC, 11,700 cases were reported in 1995 compared to the 21,304 cases reported last year.
Massachusetts residents reported more than 2,000 cases of Lyme disease last year, ranking it among the highest in the nation for reported cases, according to the state Department of Public Health.
"I've met a lot of people in this area who have Lyme disease, and they all have a similar story to mine," Mr. Shea said.
Lyme disease is an inflammatory disease characterized by a skin rash, joint inflammation and flu-like symptoms caused by a bacterium transmitted by the bite of a deer tick.
"It was sort of like the flu, but like no flu I ever had before," Mr. Shea said.
"I had extreme fatigue, my muscles really ached, I had feverish night sweats. I was disoriented, I lost my memory to a degree. I'd come out of my office and I couldn't remember where my car was. I'd have no idea.
"I had all these lines across my vision. If it was bright day, I'd see all these lines," he said.
Symptoms of Lyme disease can include fever, headache, fatigue and an expanding skin rash.
When left untreated, Lyme disease can cause cardiac problems, severe digestive problems, psychiatric manifestations and seizures, among other problems, Ms. Smith said.
Mr. Shea said one of the hardest parts of having Lyme disease is figuring out you have it.
"The doctors had no idea, that's the hard part. Initially, doctors thought I had (multiple sclerosis). That's the problem with Lyme disease - it mimics so many other diseases that it can be hard to get diagnosed."
Mr. Shea said he didn't have the "telltale" bulls-eye rash, but Ms. Smith said the rash is prevalent in only 50 percent of cases.
"A lot of people think if you don't have the bulls-eye rash, don't worry. That's not true. You might have no rash at all. In a lot of cases, people develop a flu-like illness or feel very lethargic, but these symptoms can take months to develop."
Mr. Shea said the process of recovering from Lyme disease is a long, hard road.
"I started on antibiotics for about four years. Just this last year I got back to 90 percent from where I was. It really took seven years to get better."
The best way to avoid that road is to never put yourself in close contact with ticks in the first place, Ms. Smith said.
"Prevention is your best assurance. Tick-checks can't be stressed enough. Check the folds and creases of your body and your hairline, but ticks can bite everywhere."
Ms. Smith said removing a tick improperly "greatly increases your chance of getting Lyme."
If you do find a tick, Ms. Smith had this warning:
"Don't put anything on the tick, don't burn it, don't irritate it, don't grab the tick by its body, don't use a lighted match. If the tick has a disease in it, doing all that will inject the disease into you. Instead, grasp it close to the skin with tweezers, put antiseptic on the skin. Some people save the ticks to be tested."
Said Mr. Shea, "I knew about Lyme disease, but until you meet someone who has it, it doesn't sink in. Then when you get it, you say, 'Oh my God.' It's too late."
Contact Lauren Daley at ldaley@s-t.com
Date of Publication: May 15, 2006 on Page A05
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