Lyme disease, a tick-borne infection that is keeping many Americans out of the woods this summer, has made its way to southern Idaho.
"We've had two cases that we've been able to pin down as having originated in Idaho," said Dr. Fritz Dixon, state epidemiologist for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare in Boise. "There have been a number of other cases, but they've been traced to other states."The two cases originating in Idaho involved a 7-year-old in Blaine County last year and a 43-year-old in Minidoka County, Dixon said.
The disease, transmitted by the bite of an infected tick that lives in wooded, grassy or brushy areas, has been associated with arthritis, heart arrythmias, facial palsy, severe headaches and numbness.
More common is a large, bull's-eye-shaped red rash followed by flu-like symptoms or extreme fatigue that can persist for weeks or months.
Dixon said evidence indicates the Minidoka County case originated with a tick picked up near Oakley Reservoir in southern Cassia County.
"There's a lot of testing going on out there," he said. "A lot of doctors are taking a lot of blood samples, so it could turn out we have more of a problem than we think we do."
Lyme disease often is difficult to diagnose because its symptoms resemble those of a number of other diseases. Blood tests also do not always confirm or rule out the presence of Lyme, so the process of diagnosis can take months while the symptoms persist.
The Northeast, upper Midwest and Pacific states have been the hardest-hit areas, but Lyme disease now has been reported in 43 states, Dixon said.