A Guide to Preventing Lyme Disease in the Great Outdoors

Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by bacteria primarily transmitted by tick bites. There are many different types of ticks and many different strains of Lyme. The smallest "nymph" ticks (many the size of a poppy seed) are the most concerning, as they are almost invisible to the naked eye and often leave an undetectable bite.

Lyme is the fastest-growing infectious disease in the United States, 1.5 times more common than breast cancer and six times more common than HIV. Lyme disease is prevalent across the entire country, with cases in all 50 states. The Center for Disease Control acknowledges at least 300,000 new cases of Lyme each year, or 824 per day, over 200 of which are children. That's four school buses of children newly diagnosed with Lyme every day.

Read the full article by Phyllis Bedford on Outdoor Project's website here.

Medya Mansyone

Clothing and gear can be treated with a 0.5% permethrin spray, sold under names including Sawyer, Insect Shield and Ranger Ready.

Bay Area News Group
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Medya Mansyone

Sawyer’s picaridin lotion offers the longest protection windows on test — up to 14 hours against mosquitoes and ticks — and its creamy, low-odor formula goes on smooth and dries quickly.

Rachel Cavanaugh
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Medya Mansyone

The Sawyer Squeeze and Cnoc Vecto made hydration easy.

Josh King
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