Lyme disease takes its name from Lyme, Connecticut, where the illness was first reported in 1975. The disease continues to be the most prevalent tick-borne malady in the nation, spread by the black-legged deer tick that has been firmly established in Connecticut for several decades. Deer ticks are small, the size of a pinhead and difficult to see. Lyme is a bacterial infection, treated with antibiotics successfully when caught early. However, late Lyme disease with persistent and often serious complications can occur. As the saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Here are some tips on how to minimize the risk of Lyme disease.
Create a Tick-Safe Zone at Home
Landscaping maintenance and design can help reduce your tick population.
Start by clearing tall grasses and brush around homes and at the edge of lawns.
Add a 3-ft wide barrier of wood chips or gravel between lawns and wooded areas.
Plant deer resistant plants or consider adding a deer fence.
Keep playground, decks, and patios away from yard edges and trees and place them in a sunny location, if possible. Adding a second barrier around patios and play equipment is helpful.
Mow the lawn frequently and mulch or rake leaves.
Remove any old furniture or trash from the yard that may give ticks a place to hide.
Neatly stack wood in a dry area to discourage rodents that ticks feed on.
Consider tick control services. Connecticut Tick Control uses an integrated control system of sprays and perimeter baited tick boxes and is highly recommended. Other companies offer multi-pest protection like the Mosquito Hunter and organic solutions like Green Sprays.
When Exploring & Playing Outside the Home
Stay on marked trails when hiking. Avoid tall grass and uncleared areas of the forest floor
Wear protective clothing - long sleeves, pants tucked into socks and closed-toed shoes.
Consider insect repellent or Permethrin, a pesticide that’s applied to clothing, not to your skin. Permethrin stays bound to the material of your clothing, through several washings and only needs to be reapplied every few months.
Well groomed, sunny athletic fields are best
Avoid grassy, unkept areas at edges of parks and golf courses.
Perform Routine Tick Checks:
Check common sites of attachment: behind knees, underarm, ears, scalp, navel, groin, buttocks, back. Feel for ticks, because they are very small and sometimes aren’t seen. Visual inspections should be done as well, looking for the very small pinpoint-sized dark specks that are the nymph stage ticks present in early spring.
Parents should inspect their child’s entire body daily for ticks.
Shower when coming in from the outdoors.
Check pets too! Be sure to talk to veterinarian about the best tick prevention products for your dogs and cats, who are extremely sensitive to a variety of chemicals
In and around eyelids, tail, ears
Under front legs and the collar
Between back legs and toes
Remove Ticks Immediately: Removing a tick in the first 24 hours dramatically reduces the risk
Grasp the tick between the head of the tick and the skin with tweezers and pull firmly but gently away. This may leave behind small black mouthparts of the tick in the skin. These small mouthparts do not transmit Lyme disease. Just leave them in place - do not try to dig out with tweezers or needle - they will work their way out on their own.
Send tick for testing, particularly if it in engorged. Aspetuck Health District tests ticks found on residents for a fee of $10.