barge1914
Full Member
- Posts
- 1,934
- Likes
- 3,289
Several years have passed since I wrote this, but it seems as relevant today even in a motorhoming context....just something else lurking out there for the unwary!
Tick tick tick (to the tune of Teddy Bears Picnic)
If you go out in the woods today
You’re sure of a quick demise
If you go out in the woods today
You’d better believe your eyes
For all the ticks that ever there were
Are hanging around there, sniffing the air
Today’s the day the ticks will have their picnic
In your cracks and crevices, anything bare,
Up shirts and shorts is fine,
In your knickers and in your hair
In bits where the sun don’t shine,
For all the ticks will be feeling good,
They’re happily sucking on your blood,
Today’s the day the ticks are having their picnic.
Now every tick that’s had its lot,
Has a treat in store for you.
Cos all the nasty bugs its got,
Into your blood will spew.
And with Lyme disease you’ll feel quite bad,
And tick fever could drive you mad,
And all because you gave the ticks a picnic.
Your ticker may tock, its valves may rock,
You’ve pains in your head and eyes.
Your tootsies may hurt inside their socks,
Your joints may increase in size.
Your aches and pains will wander around,
Mysterious symptoms all abound,
And all because the ticks have had their picnic.
If you go out in the forests of France,
They’ll join you for a feast,
If you wander off in Ardennes and Alsace
And any points further east,
Then cover your legs and arms and feet,
And spray your exposed bits with Deet,
Or you might soon be joining ticks for a picnic.
Well quite enough of that! Idle hands are finding things to do whilst chomping strong doses of antibiotics to hopefully deal with the effects of Lyme Disease acquired on one or more occasions during the last 4 to 6 years of being bitten by ticks whilst walking in the forests and hills of the Ardennes. We don’t seek sympathy, but are anxious to pass on a salutary warning to those of our friends who habitually moor up and go walking, cycling or jogging in the hilly forests and meadows of France, Belgium, Germany, and all points east.
Like many people we had barely heard of Lyme disease or even knew what it was. We thought it was something ‘other people’ got in places far away. No so. The forests of France, Belgium and Germany, Scandinavia, parts of Holland and most places further east are positively seething with the little critters. In Alsace it is estimated there are some 500 tick nymphs for every 100m2 of underbrush or meadow, i.e. if you walk 100m some 500 are within hopping distance. These nasty little arachnids live mostly on the ground and especially favour the low shrubs, long grass and weeds found in forest clearings. They normally feed on small rodents and deer, but you’ll do nicely! In June this year, in walking just 50m through one clearing on the slopes above Walsort, I gained 3 passengers, and Lynn one. Six years ago at Vieux Wallerand we had a good dozen apiece. Don’t forget along many canals and rivers the grassy towpath and banks also make ideal habitat.
You can catch Lyme Disease from ticks throughout France, but especially in the forested hills of the Ardennes (French and Belgian) and in Alsace. Only 100 cases are reported per 100,000 of population generally, although this increases to 180 in the hot spots. It doesn’t sound a lot, but there’s statistics for you. But, consider that most population is urban, and therefore not exposed, and that the number of people you actually encounter in the woods is minuscule (unlike the Brits and Germans the French do not seem to have a culture of donning boots and heading for the hills). So, if (say) only 1000 out of your 100,000 habitually walk or work in the woods your 180 relates only to the 1000 exposed i.e.: 18%... perhaps not so small a risk now! Please note the 1000 is not a real statistic… just a guesstimate … but I think it demonstrates the point.
Lyme produces a plethora of symptoms (flu-like symptoms and chronic fatigue, migrating joint-pain, arthralgia, arthritis, conductive heart disease and palpitations (I had atrial fibrillation), mitral valve failure and other cardiac problems, headaches, encephalitis, meningitis like symptoms, neurological, optical and psychological problems including memory loss, and many others… which I now forget. It is very difficult to diagnose as it shares symptoms with a whole range of other conditions.
A classic early indicator of Lyme, along with recent history of tick bites, is a bite mark surrounded by an expanding circular red-blue lesion or rash. Since young ticks drop off after one feed you may even be unaware of having been bitten. So, even in the absence of rash, or of finding ticks, the development of the above symptoms combined with known exposure to an environment where Lyme is endemic can still be a good reason to seek medical attention.
In a sense while Lyme Disease may be the bad news, the good news is we haven’t got Tick Bourne Encephalitis (TBE). At least the bacterial Lyme Disease can be cured with a high dose course of antibiotics, although to avoid long term chronic problems you need treatment as soon as possible… although for some the antibiotic side effects can seem for a while as bad as the disease. TBE is a virus, has no cure, and can at worst be fatal or at best seriously debilitating. It is marching steadily west and is now not far from some of our popular barging areas. It is well established in many parts of Germany. Alsace in France and nearby Saarland are already affected and also a tiny pocket SE of Nancy. Its rapid spread it seems is due to ticks being carried by migrating birds… watch out Blighty! Travellers expecting to walk in endemic areas are now recommended to consider vaccinations against TBE, albeit not cheap or obtainable on NHS.
There is no vaccination against the Lyme Disease bacteria (Borrelia Burgdorferi). If you walk in tick-infested areas long trousers tucked in socks, long sleeved shirts, and a good spray of DEET are recommended.
If you are unlucky to find ticks on yourself don’t (like us) try to scratch them off, or use chemicals or Vaseline to suffocate them (as we were wrongly advised by a French pharmacist), this simply traumatises them to the effect that they squirt the contents of their guts into you, greatly increasing the risk of infection. You should use fine pointed tweezers, or special tick-tweezers, grasping them between their head and your skin, and tease them gently off. Don’t squeeze their body as this effectively turns them into a syringe!
Finally, if you want to know more, and don’t believe a word I say… there’s a lot of poorly informed hearsay rubbish on the internet already... Go to the authoritative websites of the NHS, or American Center for Disease Control and read what they have to say on Lyme Disease and ticks. An excellent site www.tickalert.org, albeit focused more on TBE, has an interesting U-tube video illustrating the life cycle of ticks, their feeding habits, how they transmit disease, prevention, and how to remove them. It also gives lots of other info and links to other reliable sources of information and assistance; also a map showing the current spread of TBE.
Hope I’ve not upset the horses! Guess where we are cruising next year…. Alsace and Saarland… we’ll be very careful!
Tick tick tick (to the tune of Teddy Bears Picnic)
If you go out in the woods today
You’re sure of a quick demise
If you go out in the woods today
You’d better believe your eyes
For all the ticks that ever there were
Are hanging around there, sniffing the air
Today’s the day the ticks will have their picnic
In your cracks and crevices, anything bare,
Up shirts and shorts is fine,
In your knickers and in your hair
In bits where the sun don’t shine,
For all the ticks will be feeling good,
They’re happily sucking on your blood,
Today’s the day the ticks are having their picnic.
Now every tick that’s had its lot,
Has a treat in store for you.
Cos all the nasty bugs its got,
Into your blood will spew.
And with Lyme disease you’ll feel quite bad,
And tick fever could drive you mad,
And all because you gave the ticks a picnic.
Your ticker may tock, its valves may rock,
You’ve pains in your head and eyes.
Your tootsies may hurt inside their socks,
Your joints may increase in size.
Your aches and pains will wander around,
Mysterious symptoms all abound,
And all because the ticks have had their picnic.
If you go out in the forests of France,
They’ll join you for a feast,
If you wander off in Ardennes and Alsace
And any points further east,
Then cover your legs and arms and feet,
And spray your exposed bits with Deet,
Or you might soon be joining ticks for a picnic.
Well quite enough of that! Idle hands are finding things to do whilst chomping strong doses of antibiotics to hopefully deal with the effects of Lyme Disease acquired on one or more occasions during the last 4 to 6 years of being bitten by ticks whilst walking in the forests and hills of the Ardennes. We don’t seek sympathy, but are anxious to pass on a salutary warning to those of our friends who habitually moor up and go walking, cycling or jogging in the hilly forests and meadows of France, Belgium, Germany, and all points east.
Like many people we had barely heard of Lyme disease or even knew what it was. We thought it was something ‘other people’ got in places far away. No so. The forests of France, Belgium and Germany, Scandinavia, parts of Holland and most places further east are positively seething with the little critters. In Alsace it is estimated there are some 500 tick nymphs for every 100m2 of underbrush or meadow, i.e. if you walk 100m some 500 are within hopping distance. These nasty little arachnids live mostly on the ground and especially favour the low shrubs, long grass and weeds found in forest clearings. They normally feed on small rodents and deer, but you’ll do nicely! In June this year, in walking just 50m through one clearing on the slopes above Walsort, I gained 3 passengers, and Lynn one. Six years ago at Vieux Wallerand we had a good dozen apiece. Don’t forget along many canals and rivers the grassy towpath and banks also make ideal habitat.
You can catch Lyme Disease from ticks throughout France, but especially in the forested hills of the Ardennes (French and Belgian) and in Alsace. Only 100 cases are reported per 100,000 of population generally, although this increases to 180 in the hot spots. It doesn’t sound a lot, but there’s statistics for you. But, consider that most population is urban, and therefore not exposed, and that the number of people you actually encounter in the woods is minuscule (unlike the Brits and Germans the French do not seem to have a culture of donning boots and heading for the hills). So, if (say) only 1000 out of your 100,000 habitually walk or work in the woods your 180 relates only to the 1000 exposed i.e.: 18%... perhaps not so small a risk now! Please note the 1000 is not a real statistic… just a guesstimate … but I think it demonstrates the point.
Lyme produces a plethora of symptoms (flu-like symptoms and chronic fatigue, migrating joint-pain, arthralgia, arthritis, conductive heart disease and palpitations (I had atrial fibrillation), mitral valve failure and other cardiac problems, headaches, encephalitis, meningitis like symptoms, neurological, optical and psychological problems including memory loss, and many others… which I now forget. It is very difficult to diagnose as it shares symptoms with a whole range of other conditions.
A classic early indicator of Lyme, along with recent history of tick bites, is a bite mark surrounded by an expanding circular red-blue lesion or rash. Since young ticks drop off after one feed you may even be unaware of having been bitten. So, even in the absence of rash, or of finding ticks, the development of the above symptoms combined with known exposure to an environment where Lyme is endemic can still be a good reason to seek medical attention.
In a sense while Lyme Disease may be the bad news, the good news is we haven’t got Tick Bourne Encephalitis (TBE). At least the bacterial Lyme Disease can be cured with a high dose course of antibiotics, although to avoid long term chronic problems you need treatment as soon as possible… although for some the antibiotic side effects can seem for a while as bad as the disease. TBE is a virus, has no cure, and can at worst be fatal or at best seriously debilitating. It is marching steadily west and is now not far from some of our popular barging areas. It is well established in many parts of Germany. Alsace in France and nearby Saarland are already affected and also a tiny pocket SE of Nancy. Its rapid spread it seems is due to ticks being carried by migrating birds… watch out Blighty! Travellers expecting to walk in endemic areas are now recommended to consider vaccinations against TBE, albeit not cheap or obtainable on NHS.
There is no vaccination against the Lyme Disease bacteria (Borrelia Burgdorferi). If you walk in tick-infested areas long trousers tucked in socks, long sleeved shirts, and a good spray of DEET are recommended.
If you are unlucky to find ticks on yourself don’t (like us) try to scratch them off, or use chemicals or Vaseline to suffocate them (as we were wrongly advised by a French pharmacist), this simply traumatises them to the effect that they squirt the contents of their guts into you, greatly increasing the risk of infection. You should use fine pointed tweezers, or special tick-tweezers, grasping them between their head and your skin, and tease them gently off. Don’t squeeze their body as this effectively turns them into a syringe!
Finally, if you want to know more, and don’t believe a word I say… there’s a lot of poorly informed hearsay rubbish on the internet already... Go to the authoritative websites of the NHS, or American Center for Disease Control and read what they have to say on Lyme Disease and ticks. An excellent site www.tickalert.org, albeit focused more on TBE, has an interesting U-tube video illustrating the life cycle of ticks, their feeding habits, how they transmit disease, prevention, and how to remove them. It also gives lots of other info and links to other reliable sources of information and assistance; also a map showing the current spread of TBE.
Hope I’ve not upset the horses! Guess where we are cruising next year…. Alsace and Saarland… we’ll be very careful!
