Wilderness First Aid

Lesson 4: BITES AND STINGS

REFERENCES, AND A BIT ABOUT LYME DISEASE

LYME DISEASE

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, and is transmitted by the bite of infected deer ticks. Lyme disease was named in 1977 after a group of children around Lyme, Connecticut contracted arthritis and other symptoms indicative of an infectious disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 16,000 cases of Lyme disease were reported, with 92% of those cases occurring in Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. Symptoms of Lyme disease occur anywhere from days to weeks (typically 7-14 days) after a bite from an infected tick. 80% of those infected will have a red “bull’s eye” rash expanding from the site of the bite. Along with the rash, victims will experience general symptoms such as tiredness, headache, fever, a stiff neck, joint pain, and muscle aches. If the disease is left untreated, victims may develop arthritis, as well as neurological problems, inflammation of the brain, facial tics, and rarely, conditions affecting the heart. Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics for 3-4 weeks, and treatment is typically effective in the early stages of the disease. Later-stage Lyme disease can be treated, but may require more intense treatment, such as intravenous antibiotic therapy, or repeated treatment if the disease fails to respond to one course of antibiotics. Lyme disease is most common from May to August. To remove a tick from your body, use a tweezers to firmly grasp the tick’s body. Pull slowly and gently. The main objective here is to have the tick let go on its own. If you pull to hard, the tick’s head could be left in your skin to cause all sorts of infection. When the tick has been removed, disinfect the bite site, and try not to worry about it. After removing the tick, you may want to save it and get someone to identify it as a potential carrier of Lyme disease. If it turns out the tick is a deer tick (the kind that carry Lyme disease), make sure you remember the day you were bitten and watch for symptoms a week to ten days later. Lyme disease isn’t fatal, and if you are aware of the symptoms, you have a great chance of catching the disease in its early stages, when treatment is most effective.

For more information on Lyme disease, visit The American Lyme Disease Foundation.

You can also find out more information on Lyme disease by visiting the Lyme Disease Network, for which you will find a link in the Resources section of the course.

You’ll also find a link to a great FAQ on Rabies in the Resources section.

For information on scorpion and spider bites, go HERE.

For more information on insects, visit Facts on Stinging Insects.

For some information on poisonous fish and sea creatures of Australia, go HERE.

To read about a fish that is only poisonous if YOU bite IT, visit this article on the Fugu Puffer Fish.

For information on Toxoplasmosis, an illness that can be transmitted by cats, read this fact sheet.

Visit this site for facts on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, another tick-borne illness.