Canine Lyme Disease

Micky Bergey both loves and fears the yard around her Chadds Ford home. It's where she gardens and watches deer. It's also where she thinks her dog contracted Lyme disease.

“I'm sure my dog got it gardening last July,” Bergey, 50, said. “I remember sitting flat on the ground, Indian-style, at the edge of the woods.”

The tick-transmitted bacteria have sapped her dog’s energy, making it possible to have Lyme disease in dogs. She has had to take oral and intravenous antibiotics for a year.

Cases of Lyme disease soared nationwide in the six years ending in 2005, particularly in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States including Delaware and Pennsylvania. Reported cases rose by 70 percent nationwide, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, the 143 cases reported in Delaware set a state record that is nearly six times the rate recorded a decade earlier. The rate is higher in northern Delaware, probably because there are more infected ticks in that region and more people, said David Wolfe, epidemiologist for the state Department of Public Health.

Also, more disease-causing ticks survived the winter because the weather was relatively mild. All of this means Lyme disease has made its way into the spotlight as never before, and people are more aware of the symptoms and risks. That means they are more likely to suspect they have the disease and request tests, which may help explain the increase in cases, Wolfe said.

“Lyme wasn't here 20 years ago,” said Dr. John Piper, infectious disease specialist at Christiana Care. It spread quickly from Northeastern states to Delaware, in part because the state has many deer, Piper said.

Lyme disease is spread by infected deer ticks. An immature tick becomes infected by feeding on small animals such as mice that carry the bacteria. It then can transfer the bacteria to deer, humans and other animals. It can produce a myriad of symptoms. There's the telltale bull's-eye rash around a tick bite, fatigue, chills, fever and joint pain.

But the varied symptoms can be confusing. Sometimes it appears the patient has the flu or a incurable disease such as multiple sclerosis. A tick, if found on the body, should be removed as soon as possible, slowly and firmly with tweezers, according to Dewey Caron, a University of Delaware entomologist. The bite then should be disinfected with antiseptic, Caron wrote for the University of Delaware Web site.

Physicians such as Dr. George Spyropoulos are swamped with requests from people who want the vaccine against Lyme, called LYMErix.

“The word 'Lyme' comes up every single day,” said Spyropoulos, who works out of Christiana Care's Chadds Ford, Pa., satellite office. “We're a hotbed of tick-borne illnesses.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of LYMErix late in 2005. Manufactured by SmithKline Beecham, it helps prevent the disease but does not offer 100 percent protection. It takes three shots in 12 months to build up optimal immunity. LYMErix is available for people between the ages of 15 and 70. Each dose costs about $50.

Lyme Disease