Apr 30, 2015 2 min read

Pennsylvania accounted for nearly 20 percent of all national Lyme disease cases in 2013, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., is calling for an increase in government funding to more adequately prevent and track cases of Lyme disease, which is carried and transmitted by blacklegged deer ticks.

“Unfortunately, according to the CDC, Lyme disease is often underreported in places like Pennsylvania where Lyme disease is highly endemic,” Casey said Thursday morning in a conference call with reporters.

Casey said he will work with the CDC to determine how much funding should be appropriated to tackle the issue. Lyme disease is a “rather serious” ailment, Casey said. Symptoms include fever, fatigue, headaches, muscle aches and a distinctive skin rash that looks like a bull’s-eye. More severe complications can develop if left untreated.

Casey warned it’s especially important to be wary of tick bites in the summer months when the risk is greatest.

According to 2013 data from the Department of Health, Washington County had 192 cases of Lyme disease that year, while Greene County had 62. Across Pennsylvania, there were 4,981 cases in 2013.

Southwest Regional Medical Center in Waynesburg saw an uptick in Lyme disease cases over the past year, and animals are just as vulnerable. Thierry Clermont, a veterinarian at Hidden Valley Animal Clinic in McMurray, sees cases of Lyme disease in dogs “with more regularity.”

In the last 10 months, Clermont diagnosed eight animals with Lyme disease. He said Lyme disease and heartworm tests are usually conducted at the same time. In most cases, though, there are no symptoms.

“Typically, the estimate is five to 10 percent of dogs eventually develop symptoms,” Clermont said.

Those symptoms involve fever or lameness, typically in a leg that was bitten by the infected tick.

Clermont said the veterinary community believes infection typically occurs when a tick is attached to a dog for at least two days. He said flea and tick medication is the best method to reduce the risk.

Lyme disease vaccinations are available for dogs, but Clermont said he typically only gives those to at-risk dogs that spent most of their time outdoors in wooded areas.

Fortunately, Clermont said, the “vast majority (of cases) are absolutely treatable.”

For more information, visit www.casey.senate.gov/help/lyme-disease.