Watch Jefferson County

This message is information from Commissioner Jim Surkamp and not from the County Commission.

I was at the County Board of Health monthly meeting Friday and one of our staff nurses
reported that there were 23 reported cases of Lyme Disease in the county just in the
month of July - twelve have been confirmed, nine are still pending and two were found to
not be Lyme Disease.

As most of you know, Lyme Disease comes from a tiny tick found on deer. And we have,
well, "a few" deer in the county. A lot of the Lyme reports have been around
Shepherdstown, particularly out Shepherd Grade. I live out there and deer practically
live on my lawn.

The tick is so tiny, in fact, that our nurse investigator said it was no bigger than the
size of a pen mark on paper from a ballpoint. She had to magnify the tick on a slide 100
fold on her microscope to see its defining, little snout.

The symptoms, which can be elusive to your doctor, are described here on the web:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lyme-disease/DS00116

What to do? Well you still have to live, right? If you go outside into areas with trees,
tall grass, wooded areas, it helps to wear clothing covering your arms, legs, and head.
Showering both body and hair when you come inside is also effective.

Thought you'd like to know this information.

We can also appreciate the good work of our Health Department.

Your Commissioner, Jim Surkamp