Lyme Disease Prevention is Better Than Lyme Disease Cure

Lyme disease remains one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in America; and that uptick shows no signs of slowing. As more people are affected by the disease, some experts have come to agree that the most effective “treatment” for the disease is to prevent infection in the first place.

To this end, researchers from the Colorado State University and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published a study in the Journal of Medical Entomology that highlighted the four important things that communities need to do in order to learn how to keep their residents protected from tick bites and Lyme disease:

• Identify how many animals in their community are infected with Lyme disease; and establish a causal link between animal infection and human infection. What percentage of animals need to be infected with the Lyme-causing Borrelia Burgdorferi bacterium before people start catching the disease?
• Study the geography of the community and identify “high risk” areas for tick bites and Lyme disease infection. Particular attention should be paid to woodland, forests and fragmented areas of grassland close to human habitations.
• Assess how successful past attempts to control Lyme disease have been. Studying, in particular, attempts to cull the wild deer population and tick spray treatments that have been performed by the township.
• Establish any links between human behaviors and infection rates; noting potentially increased Lyme disease rates in groups like hunters and farmers.

Gathering this information can help paint a fuller picture of Lyme disease region-by-region; and help communities identify the trends that cause increased infection rates.

However, facts and figures alone will not prevent tick bites or Lyme disease.

Although this research is valuable, our own tick control specialists at Aspenn Environmental Services have some more practical tips about how to prevent tick bites and protect your family from Lyme disease.

One of the most important is to establish some kind of tick control program in your home and garden; such as a yard spray for ticks or tick spray treatment that eliminates ticks.

Over 70% of tick bites occur in and around the home, so getting rid of ticks from your property is the one step that has perhaps the biggest impact on preventing tick bites and Lyme disease.

Just like with deer culling and township spraying, community attempts to reduce Lyme disease are worthwhile and important; but none of them can take the place of your own tick control efforts; so be sure to talk to an tick control expert about how to keep your property tick-free all year long.