May was Lyme disease awareness month and Drumheller went green to show support for those with this disease, and also to learn how to take simple steps to prevent a tick bite from happening.
Jillian Augey, of Lyme Light Society, said many volunteers helped to put the green ribbons and information posters throughout the town to show awareness.
Augey said she also did some presentations locally about Lyme disease, which she said helped residents understand what to do if they or a family member was to get a tick bite. She said quite a few people have had ticks, or tick bites recently, so this campaign came at a good time to make awareness.
The spring and early summer have been quite bad for ticks she said. Some recent social media posts have talked about a bulls eye rash, but Augey told inSide Drumheller, “Only about 10 per cent of people get the bulls eye rash. Everyone I know that has Lyme disease never got the rash.”
She said the best thing to do when enjoying the outdoors is to wear proper clothing and footwear, and to spray it with repellent. She said hunters and regular hikers have been known to use a product called permethrin but an insect repellent with a high deet will also help. Those not wanting to use chemicals such as these, can use natural essential oils, that can be mixed up and sprayed directly on skin, clothing and shoes.
When it comes to a tick making contact with a person’s skin Augey said it is “not long” before a person can be infected from the tick. “There is this misconception that a person won’t get sick unless it has been embedded for 24 hours, but that is a lie, people have been infected within the first hour of it teething,” she said.
She also said that it is not just deer ticks that carry Lyme disease, but also ticks that are on robins and mice as well as other rodents. “Mice and Robins carry more Lyme disease than deer do,” she said. “That’s why our ticks are so bad, because all the birds that migrate bring them with them into Canada when they come back in the spring.”
For those furry members of the family, Augey said she tells people to make sure to thoroughly brush their dog off and do a tick check before letting them into the house. She also mentioned that tick collars and products the vet can prescribe will also help to prevent animals from getting Lyme disease. “Lots of times, the dog will bring the tick in and the tick will actually get on to the human owner and make the human owner sick,” she said said, “The testing for Lyme disease for dogs is effective compared to the human testing. If you see a tick embedded in your dog, and your dog is acting strange, or is lethargic definitely take it to the vet and mention Lyme disease.”
Augey said the Lyme Light Society doesn’t want residents to be “scared” or be hiding out inside. “I go outdoors, I’m not freaking out about it, you just have to know what to do and then you should be safe… we just have to learn how to live with these bugs. Information is power.”
“If you do have a tick embedded don’t light it on fire, don’t put Vaseline or soap on it,” she said. “I suggest going to the clinic and having a doctor remove it with really great tweezers… The most important thing is to get the mouthpart. If you leave any of the head in your skin you can still get sick possibly. You have to make sure you close off the mouth parts that are in the skin and just pull the tick straight out,” she said.
Residents are free to phone the Lyme Light Society, Augey said, “Members are happy to help people. If they suspect they may have Lyme disease, we help them get properly tested.”
She also said that since the campaign, people have been tested and were positive. Although they aren’t happy that this has happened, Augey said the Lyme Light Society are, glad the awareness campaign put Lyme disease on their radar to get tested for that first, otherwise they may have been sick for a long time not knowing what was wrong.
“Most people don’t actually get sick at the time of the bite,” Augey explains. “Their immune systems usually deal with it and it will be months to years later and suddenly they have swollen joints, on-going headaches, digestive problems and by then they have forgotten about the tick bite… you probably won’t get the rash, you probably won’t get the flu right away, the majority of people don’t get sick until months or years after the bite.”
For more information about Lyme disease visit www.canlyme.com
