The number of Lyme disease cases
reported in the United States is
approaching 20,000 a year and the number
is climbing sharply. In 2000, there were
more than 17,000 cases of Lyme disease
reported to the national Centers for
Disease Control, the highest level since
the disease was identified in 1975.
Cumulatively, there were 170,000 cases
of LD reported. Many experts think the
actual number is 10 times higher, which
would make it 1,700,000 and more than
the number of HIV infections. It is now
the second- fastest-growing infectious
disease in the US, after hepatitis C.
Most cases of Lyme disease occur in
people who live in rural, suburban,
wooded, and grassy areas with high
populations of deer and field mice. LD
remains concentrated in the Northeast,
Mid-Atlantic, Michigan, Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Northwest and Canada (along
Lake Erie, the Gulf Islands and
Vancouver Island in British Columbia).
But cases have now been reported in
almost every state. Nearly 88 percent of
these cases are in New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and the states of New
England. LD has infected more than
12,000 residents of Dutchess County, NY,
which had the fourth-highest incidence
rate in the United States in 2000. In
2002, three times the number of cases
has been reported compare to 2001. There
is no immunity after previous infections
and re-infections are quite common. If
you have a pet, the chance of being
infected increase dramatically,
according to the American Veterinary
Medical Associations (AVMA), since dogs
are 50 percent more susceptible to Lyme
disease than humans.
Individuals who live or work in
residential areas surrounded by
tick-infested woods or overgrown brush
are at risk of getting Lyme disease.
Persons who work or play in their yard,
participate in recreational activities
away from home such as hiking, camping,
fishing and hunting, or engage in
outdoor occupations, such as
landscaping, brush clearing, forestry,
and wildlife and parks management in
endemic areas may also be at risk of
getting Lyme disease.
