http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/Lyme/ld_tickremoval.htm
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/LymeDisease/
It's Spring–Time to Prevent Lyme Disease
When you're outside this spring and summer, prevent tick bites and reduce your risk of Lyme disease and other tick-borne disease by following these tips.
More cases of Lyme disease are reported than any other bug-borne disease in the United States. There were more than 27,000 reported cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. in 2007; most of these cases are reported from the Northeast and upper Midwest. See more on Lyme disease statistics.
Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. People become infected with the Lyme disease bacteria when they are bitten by an infected blacklegged tick.
As we start spending more time outdoors during spring and into summer, we have to be aware of the risk of tick bites. Gardening, camping, hiking, and just playing outdoors are all great spring and summertime activities, but make tick protection part of your outdoor plans as well.
Immature ticks (larvae and nymphs) are so small that they can be difficult to see. However, all stages of ticks need to feed on blood to continue on to the next stages—therefore these tiny ticks can be an important threat. You may come into contact with ticks when walking through infested areas or by brushing up against infested vegetation (such as leaf litter, tall grass or shrubs). Ticks also feed on mammals and birds, which play a role in maintaining ticks and maintaining the Lyme disease bacteria.
Ticks (including species other than the blacklegged ticks) can also transmit diseases other than Lyme disease, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, erlichiosis, anaplasmosis, Colorado tick fever, and Powassan encephalitis.
Fortunately there are several tactics you and your family can use to prevent tick bites and reduce your risk of tick-borne disease.
Protect Yourself from Tick Bites
•Know where to expect ticks. Blacklegged ticks live in moist and humid environments, particularly in or near wooded or grassy areas. You may come into contact with ticks during outdoor activities around your home or when walking through vegetation such as leaf litter or shrubs. To avoid ticks, walk in the center of trails.
•Use a repellent with DEET (on skin or clothing) or permethrin (on clothing) and wear long sleeves, long pants and socks. Products containing permethrin can be used to treat boots, clothing and camping gear which can remain protective through several washings. Repellents containing 20% or more DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) can be applied to the skin, and they can protect up to several hours. Always follow product instructions! Parents should apply this product to their children, taking care to avoid application to hands, eyes, and mouth.
•It may sound silly, but tuck your pant legs into your socks so that ticks cannot crawl up inside of your pant legs. Some ticks can crawl down into shoes and are small enough to crawl through most socks.
For detailed information about using DEET on children, see West Nile Virus: What You Need to Know about Mosquito Repellent.
For detailed information about tick prevention and control, see Lyme Disease Prevention and Control.
For detailed information geared to outdoor workers, see NIOSH Safety and Health Topic: Tick-borne Diseases.
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http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7485.html
Lyme Disease in California
Revised 10/08
Lyme disease is a potentially serious disease, and can be localized or affect multiple bodily systems. In the United States, the disease is caused by a spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, a corkscrew-shaped kind of bacterium. The spirochete is transmitted to humans and other animals by the feeding activities of certain ticks. Of the 47 tick species established in California, 6 species attach to humans with any regularity, but only the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus, is thought to be responsible for transmitting the spirochete to people. Ixodes pacificus has been reported in 56 out of 58 counties in the state, and it attaches to humans more frequently than any other tick. In one study, about 60% of 967 ticks that had attached to people were identified as western black-legged ticks. A recent compilation revealed that 108 species of lizards, birds, or mammals have been recorded as hosts of this tick in California. A different but closely related tick species, the deer tick (Ixodes scapularis), transmits Borrelia burgdorferi in eastern North America, but that tick does not occur in California.
In most areas of northern California where Lyme disease occurs, only about 1 to 2% of the adult Ixodes pacificus ticks and 2 to 15% of the immature ticks, on average, are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. However, Lyme disease transmission risk can be highly localized. In one woodland site in Mendocino County, for example, 41% of the nymphs were found to contain Lyme disease bacteria.{continued}
Surveillance:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5710a1.htm#tab1
General Lyme disease info
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lyme/
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/Lyme/index.htm
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