Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Disease Prevention

There are more than 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease diagnosed each year. Lyme disease is a preventable infectious disease that is transmitted through a tick bite, although fewer than half of people with Lyme disease actually recall a tick bite. Ticks are biting arachnids that can transmit disease-causing pathogens that may be bacteria (one of which causes Lyme disease), protozoa, or viruses. Prevention is one of the foundational principles of naturopathic medicine. There are many proactive strategies you may take to prevent Lyme and tick-borne disease (TBD).

Ticks thrive in high-humidity environments, in grass, in low-lying shrubs, in leaf litter, between grassy and forested areas, in wood piles, in stone walls, and around the perimeter of buildings surrounded by grass. Take the following steps to make your land less tick friendly:

• Rake leaves.
• Clear brush and debris from grass and gardens.
• Keep grass short.
• Trim shrubs and low branches.
• Create wide, grass-free paths made of wood chips or stone.
• Remove bird feeders or place them on the perimeter of the land.
• Demarcate border areas, where ticks seem to thrive. You might consider adding a 3-foot-wide strip of stone or wood chips in places where your lawn meets high plant growth or any kind of structure (prime mouse habitat)
• Eliminate or limit wood piles, brush piles, compost piles, stone walls, and rotting wood (prime mouse habitat).

​More to come...