A new report is urging Massachusetts officials to take more drastic steps to combat Lyme disease, from launching aggressive public education campaigns to exploring expanded crossbow hunting to cut down on the number of deer that may be carrying ticks. The report released Thursday by a special legislative commission also said the state needs to enhance its Lyme disease surveillance methods to get a better idea of the scope of the problem. Up to 14,000 reports of Lyme disease are confirmed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health each year although officials say the real numbers may be much higher. The disease is spread to humans by tick bites.
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Deer are NOT THE PROBLEM. Immature ticks that fall off of deer are disease-free! The WHITE FOOTED MOUSE is the reservoir for tickborne illness. It is silly to expand crossbow hunting for deer. Why not make it more challenging by licensing hunters to kill mice! Now that is the way to keep tickborne illness at bay, at least for awhile!
14k+ cases "reported" and yet there's NO dedicated Lyme reseach & treatment center in a state reknown for its research medicine? MA needs more Lyme Literate physicians to treat the chronic forms of Lyme and other tick born diseases.
http://www.malegislature.gov/Content/Documents/Committees/H46/LymeDiseaseCommissionFinalReport-2013-02-28.pdf
Here's the report
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