Before I left Florida to go to Massachusetts for my Mindful Outdoor Guide certification, I read a few articles about the increase in tick bites and Lyme disease in the northeast as a result of climate change.
I told several people that my only fear with completing the course was getting bit by a tick. My first question in class was regarding tick bite prevention.
Every day in the forest, I felt fully prepared by using insect repellent, wearing long pants instead of shorts, showering each night and doing regular tick checks.
After spending more than 7 days in nature, I felt relaxed and ready to prepare for the next level certification. I returned home to Florida satisfied that I came back without any bites.
Less than two weeks later, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease despite my diligence.
I have learned a lot about ticks since being diagnosed:
*Blacklegged/deer ticks can live up to 2 years. *Ticks move to a new host 4 times in their life cycle: egg, larva, nymph, adult. *Ticks most often infect humans when they are in the nymph stage, the size of a sesame seed and the person who is infected doesn’t notice a bite. *A rash occurs at the site of the bite in approximately 70% of infected people. *It can take from 3 to 30 days after the bite, growing larger over several days. *The normal course of treatment is 20 days antibiotics, but symptoms may persist for weeks or months.
The risk of contracting Lyme disease in Florida is very low. When I asked my Florida primary care doctor how often he has diagnosed Lyme disease, he said, "almost never." In Florida, blacklegged ticks prefer to feed on lizards and other reptiles. Lizards do not pass the bacteria back to the reptiles as they do in the Northeast so human infection rates are very low. Less than 1% of Florida's blacklegged ticks carry the Lyme bacteria, compared to approximately 50% of the tick population in the Northeast.
Now that the antibiotics have started to take affect and I feel a little better, I am able to be a little more objective about my situation. I know that ticks have an important role in God’s creation. They are a food source for opossums, chickens and wild turkeys.
Although I would not want to contract Lyme disease again, I understand that a tick is a necessary part of our ecosystem, just like many other non-humans in the forest.
Mary Kaeding
As soon as I recover, I will begin hosting Scripture Walk in the Orlando, Florida area.