How to go outside without getting Lyme disease
One of the great disappointments of my lifetime is the spread of Lyme disease in the United States. In my childhood, I would sometimes return home from a walk in the wildflowers to have a dozen or more dog ticks hiding in my hair, waiting to be combed out -- a creepy experience, to be sure, but not a health hazard.
The world has changed a lot since then, and the paper linked below is not exactly surprising: ticks carrying Lyme disease are endemic to parks in the eastern United States.
These days, if we want to go outside, my children and I follow a fairly rigorous regime (similar to the one described in the article) to avoid the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), the main offender in spreading Lyme locally. We call it "tick drill," and it's a nuisance. It's also an exception to Thoreau's old maxim about avoiding any endeavors requiring new clothes -- because everyone in the family has a full set of insect-resistant clothing.
Meanwhile, now there is another tick spreading Lyme disease:
https://entomologytoday.org/2015/11/23/a-tick-that-feeds-on-birds-may-increase-the-range-of-lyme-disease/
On one hand, you need not worry about these ticks biting you, because they are not interested in humans. On the other hand, birds are big travelers, and they could big player in spreading Lyme in wild animal populations.
So know the risks and plan accordingly. It's a nuisance to avoid Lyme, but much simpler than curing it once you're infected.
One of the great disappointments of my lifetime is the spread of Lyme disease in the United States. In my childhood, I would sometimes return home from a walk in the wildflowers to have a dozen or more dog ticks hiding in my hair, waiting to be combed out -- a creepy experience, to be sure, but not a health hazard.
The world has changed a lot since then, and the paper linked below is not exactly surprising: ticks carrying Lyme disease are endemic to parks in the eastern United States.
These days, if we want to go outside, my children and I follow a fairly rigorous regime (similar to the one described in the article) to avoid the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), the main offender in spreading Lyme locally. We call it "tick drill," and it's a nuisance. It's also an exception to Thoreau's old maxim about avoiding any endeavors requiring new clothes -- because everyone in the family has a full set of insect-resistant clothing.
Meanwhile, now there is another tick spreading Lyme disease:
https://entomologytoday.org/2015/11/23/a-tick-that-feeds-on-birds-may-increase-the-range-of-lyme-disease/
On one hand, you need not worry about these ticks biting you, because they are not interested in humans. On the other hand, birds are big travelers, and they could big player in spreading Lyme in wild animal populations.
So know the risks and plan accordingly. It's a nuisance to avoid Lyme, but much simpler than curing it once you're infected.
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