According to entomologists at the Smithsonian Institute and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, the warm winter means an earlier tick season. The tiny insects, which can carry debilitating Lyme disease, are already out in force. If you work outside, enjoy outdoor recreation or have pets that play outside, take appropriate precautions (Centers for Disease Control).
More information about the disease is available at Family Doctor (also in Spanish) and the Mayo Clinic. A LHSFNA health alert, Lyme Disease in Construction, is available through the Fund’s online Publications Catalogue. Read more about tick precautions in Lyme Disease Spreads West and South (LIFELINES ONLINE, June 2009).
Graphic courtesy CDC.
[Steve Clark]
