Lyme Disease Symptomology In Dogs

Canine Lyme disease may have reached St. Joseph County, adding weight to warnings to take precautions in wooded or grassy areas. State health officials say the tiny deer tick, carrier of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, has spread into north-central Indiana. And a local dermatologist said she's treated two people this year for probable, though unconfirmed, cases of the disease. That includes a man who believes he was bitten by a tick on his arm while hunting for mushrooms last month in Rum Village Park.

Dr. Mary K. Harder, a dermatologist who practices in South Bend, said the tick in question is so small it's usually never found by the person who's been bitten.

“It's not the big tick you find on dogs after they've been running in the woods,” she said. “It's about the size of the head of a pin.”

Harder said she's treated six probable cases of Lyme disease in South Bend over the past eight years. Those cases, however, were not confirmed by lab tests, Harder said, and consequently are not reflected in Lyme disease figures reported by the state Department of Health and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Instead, the diagnosis was made by the telltale symptom of Lyme disease: a round or oval rash that is red and raised, Harder said. The rash expands gradually, and the center is often paler than the edges, giving it a bull's-eye appearance.

“If you've been out in the woods and have a rash like that, you should probably be looked at,” Harder said. Besides the rash, which is absent in about one-fourth of cases, a grab-bag of other symptoms are also possible, including fatigue, chills and fever, headaches, stiff neck and muscle and joint aches. Left untreated, more serious long-term effects may develop, including heart problems, neurological disorders and arthritis, especially of the knee.

Fortunately, Lyme disease is usually cured by antibiotics taken over a three-week period, Harder said. “There's very little danger if you get treated,” she said.

Michael Sinsko, a medical entomologist at the Indiana State Department of Health, said he's not surprised that Lyme disease has been diagnosed in St. Joseph County. “It's almost expected we would see some cases in northwest Indiana because we're seeing more of the tick that transmits the disease,” he said.

Under a program based at a “tick lab” at Ball State University, scientists examine deer killed by hunters and brought into check-in stations throughout Indiana.

The survey suggests that the deer tick population has moved from Newton and Jasper counties eastward into Pulaski, Starke and LaPorte counties. Two of the ticks have been found in St. Joseph County, Sinsko said.

Sinsko said the risk of tick bites can be reduced by simple precautions, such as wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants while in the woods.

Repellents that include high amounts of DEET (diethyltoluamide) or permethrin are effective against ticks, Sinsko said. It's best to spray them on your clothes, rather than on your skin, he said.

“We know that in order to become ill, a person has to be bitten by an infected tick, and that means a tick must be able to reach exposed skin,” he said. “A little care can prevent that from happening.”

Lyme Disease