ORANGE — Bobby Curley never hikes without a cigarette lighter. But he doesn’t smoke, and never has.
President of the North Quabbin Trails Association, Curley keeps a lighter handy to protect himself and his dog, Celtz, from ticks, burning off the small arachnids if they latch on. He is a veteran of the area’s wilderness and recently emailed association members to warn against the infestation he has witnessed since last week.
“The assault is on,” he wrote.
Curley, 60, told the Recorder this is the worst tick problem he has encountered in his 32 years of outdoor recreation. He said Celtz, a 3-year-old Collie, was equipped with a great Seresto flea-and-tick collar and was still plagued by more than 200 ticks after a hike.
This experience has persuaded Curley to organize two information sessions — during the association’s June and July meetings in the Orange Innovation Center at 131 West Main St. — to educate people on how to stay safe from ticks and Lyme disease, an infection caused by deer tick bites. He said he has invited Athol Health Agent Deborah Vondal to speak about tick identification and solutions at the June 12 meeting and Dr. Emily Maiella, who spoke last year about tick awareness, for the one on July 10.
Maiella, a naturopathic physician who studies Lyme disease at Windhorse Naturopathic Clinic in Brattleboro, Vt., told The Recorder this is a particularly bad tick season, which is often determined by warm winters. She is been a member of the International Lyme and Associated Disease Society since 2006.
She said people should first learn how to recognize a tick. She said anyone who has one on their person or an animal should immediately remove it carefully with tweezers or a tick remover, which she said is available in most outdoor sporting stores. If possible, Maiella said, save the tick and send it to the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Laboratory of Medical Zoology for testing. Costs vary from $50 to $200 depending on the amount of services rendered, according to www.tickreport.com/pricing. The lab can be contacted at 413-545-1057. The website states all results are available within three business days.
Dr. Catherine Brown, a state public health veterinarian with the state Department of Public Health in Boston, said people every year complain that the tick season is the worst they’ve experienced, though entomologists have confirmed exceptionally large populations in 2017. She explained there two active tick species – the smaller deer tick, which carries Lyme disease, and the dog tick, which does not. Brown said the greatest spike has pertained to dog ticks.
“Every year is a bad tick year in Massachusetts,” she said. “We see infected ticks … across the commonwealth.”
Brown said after you remove a deer tick from your person, call your health care provider to learn if antibiotics are necessary.
Brown said the state has a tick and mosquito awareness campaign in the form of posters in Boston’s subway system and media time. She said she did not know how much money is spent on the campaign. More information is available at http://bit.ly/2p3cqMG.
Maiella warned that Lyme disease symptoms vary person to person, but classic signs include headache, fever, muscle pain, joint pain, numbness, tingling and a rash that resembles a bull’s-eye. She said failure to properly treat Lyme disease can lead to permanent neurological impairments, chronic fatigue, chronic muscle pain, cognitive impairments and psychological issues.
She said the best way to avoid ticks is to stay inside, though she acknowledged “people want to, and need to, be out in nature.” Maiella advises checking for ticks every one to two hours when enjoying the outdoors. She also said five minutes in a hot dryer will kill ticks attached to clothing. She also recommends spraying Permethrin, an insecticide, on your clothes as a tick repellant.
Curley said he plans to distribute and publish online tick prevention information he learns from the professionals. He suggests staying off overgrown or dense hiking trails, where ticks often congregate.
“This is not meant to discourage anyone from the stunning beauty of spring, but true awareness is needed for everyone out on the trails,” Curley said in his email.
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 258. On Twitter: @DomenicPoli