[pct-l] ticks-incidence of Lyme disease.

[nowhere_man97 at hotmail.com (Philip Hough)]

Joanne Lennox, goforth wrote:

>I am interested in finding out what the incidence of Lyme disease is on
>various parts of the PCT.


Ticks are nasty little critters.  On the PCT in '94 I picked up one near Mt 
Laguna.  And by the time I found the little bugger, it was in too deep for 
tweezers.  A sharp needle was required to extract it (and it had found a 
resting place where I did not want to slip with the needle:) ).  Didn't get 
sick from it, but it could have been a lousy way to start the hike.  Hiking 
up out of Cajon Pass there were so many ticks in this one stretch (of a mile 
or so) that every couple hundred yards it was time to stop and pick off a 
half dozen or more.  Lots of grass hanging over the trail and it was just 
the right time of day/warmth whatever.

Tick prevention is important.  Aside from Lyme Disease there are other 
diseases that the deer ticks carry.  On the AT I was suddenly very sick and 
spent a couple days in a shelter before dragging myself to a road crossing 
and hitching into White River Junction VT and the medical center. The 
diagnosis:  Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis.  A tick borne disease with a 10 +/- 
incubation period.  Probably picked it up in Connecticut or Mass.  The tiny 
tick was long gone.  The deer ticks are so small you sometimes don't even 
notice them.   Several days of drugs and bed rest followed by a couple weeks 
of reduced mileage and I was better.  I don't know the incidence rate for 
Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis in the west.  Its pretty rare back east.  But, 
when YOU have it, (or Lyme, or anything that is debilitating like that) the 
relative rate of incidence isn't very important any more.  The real question 
is how much can you reasonable do to prevent a problem and how will you deal 
with it if and when you have to.

Nowhere Man

"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to 
what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, 
miracles happen." - Henry David Thoreau

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