Dressing Lyme infected deer

[Dmytro]

Checking the "Diseases you can get from wildlife" manual it only talks of Lyme in context of a tick bite. Strangely it does not mention that ticks bite deer and deer can carry it in their blood. US CDC only says "Note that hunting and dressing deer or squirrels may bring you into close contact with infected ticks"- so again no reference at deer blood being a risk factor.

Once I learned that not only this bug is present in BC but also that BC doctors refuse to treat this disease it kind of gave me a pause... Anybody worried about getting infected when dressing deer?

[madrona sh]

Not me. Thats like worrying about getting flesh eating disease,as far as I'm concerned.
After dealing with the animal I check myself for ticks.

[russm86]

Why would BC doctors refuse to treat it? That doesn't make any sense...

[Dmytro]

Why would BC doctors refuse to treat it? That doesn't make any sense...

I agree with you, it does not make sense. Yet they do refuse treatment. Not only there are lots of stories about it online but I have witnessed one such case personally this year. As to why- one of the possible reasons might be because some doctors have lots their licenses for attempting to treat it. Several states in US have even passed special laws protecting doctors who treat this particular bug. Does it make sense to you that parliaments have to vote for new laws that protect doctors in respect of a particular bug?

Now back to the deer :)

[tash]

Deer ticks (the ones that carry Lyme) are TINY (point of a pencil tiny).
Good luck finding those!

I've also heard that doctors won't diagnose Lyme. Not sure why though...

I did recently ask my vet about Lyme disease (we take the dog in the woods a lot), and she said that it wasn't very common in my area.

[Mountaintop]

I never thought about Lyme while cleaning and skinning but I do wear vinyl or latex exam gloves while cleaning an animal. I have heard there is now a preventative vaccine available in Canada but is only about 75% effective in stopping the infection. Cannot imagine a doctor won't treat an infection especially if they can give the vaccine.

[835]

So, you think they refuse to treat you? Really? I wonder why they treat people with AIDS? Doctors have to treat you, do you think they will let you die

[Pete]

Not all ticks carry Lyme disease so how do you tell if a deer does have Lyme disease and which ticks on the deer if any are the carriers?

[Rainsford]

I don’t know if they don’t treat it, when I was a kid I went camping got a bite the doc thought it was a tick and gave me a bunch of antibiotics that made me sick because she thought it might be limes disease. Granted she didn’t know that I had it but she definitely treated me. And just an FYI I don’t have limes disease.

[Dmytro]

So, you think they refuse to treat you? Really? I wonder why they treat people with AIDS? Doctors have to treat you, do you think they will let you die

That is not really what I wanted to discuss here, but yes, really. REALLY. Doctors don't have to treat you, they simply tell you that you don't have Lyme and send you away. REALLY. And by the time you realize you've got to go outside of Canada for help it will be too late and you will be fighting nasty bugs for the rest of your life, which might not be as long as you would expect because after about one year you become immunocompromised (that's where your AIDS comparison actually starts to make sense!). Again, not the right place for discussing this, there are lots of sites and forums online dedicated to Lyme. Unfortunately all those sites are about people who are already screwed. Nothing for people who aren't screwed and would like to stay this way, except for advice to use lots of DEET, but that might alert deer's smell senses and won't help you if you cut yourself while butchering the animal. That's why I am wondering whether folks are paying attention at that. Or do you never get any cuts?

[tash]

If you suspect you have been bitten by a tick that may have Lyme, bring the LIVE tick to your doctor and they can send it away for testing.

What I had heard regarding Lyme in BC, is not so much that doctors refuse to treat it, but that they simply don't believe that one could even have Lyme disease...

I also wear gloves when field dressing an animal.

[Dmytro]

I also wear gloves when field dressing an animal.

Did you ever cut your skin through the glove?

[troutseeker]

Usually by the time I tagged my animal and am ready to start dressing it I have enough tequila in me to counter the effect of Lyme. I usually carry a little salt to go with the lyme and Tequilla!

[tash]

Did you ever cut your skin through the glove?

Yep.
Didn't say that this was a foolproof plan....simply a precaution.

[Dmytro]

If you suspect you have been bitten by a tick that may have Lyme, bring the LIVE tick to your doctor and they can send it away for testing.

I have a better suggestion- forget testing and take antibiotics immediately. It is a good idea to have some on you when you head out. An early doze has a chance of preventing infection. By the time you find out that your tick had Lyme in it you will already be infected and curing it is a much bigger challenge than preventing it. There was a study that found Doxy to be relatively effective as preventive measure upon getting bitten.

[RayHill]

Doctors have to treat you, do you think they will let you die

Sometimes I wonder about this???

[Darksith]

Doctors in BC do not diagnose lyme disease....correct. There are a few reasons for this, 1 is that it is hard to diagnose, also b/c it is uncommon. Uncommon does not mean not there...I know someone in BC that passed away from suspected lyme disease. The family even took this person to the US to try and get something done, but by then it was simply too late. If this is a concern for anyone know the signs and symptoms of lyme disease, and if you have them seek medical help immediately. There is a treatment, it involves a lot of pills, and they aren't gonna be fun to take. You will be most likely missing some work, but its better than the alternative. I believe that you will show a large bruise if bitten by an infected tick, I believe it is called a bullseye bruise? Not 100% on that, but scary stuff when it hits so close to home.

[tash]

I've gotta say that I'm really curious as to what doctor is going to prescribe the type of antibiotics you would need "just in case"....

[tash]

I have a better suggestion- forget testing and take antibiotics immediately. It is a good idea to have some on you when you head out. An early doze has a chance of preventing infection. By the time you find out that your tick had Lyme in it you will already be infected and curing it is a much bigger challenge than preventing it. There was a study that found Doxy to be relatively effective as preventive measure upon getting bitten.

And you can actually find a doctor who is willing to prescribe antibiotics "just in case"?

[Dmytro]

And you can actually find a doctor who is willing to prescribe antibiotics "just in case"?

Read what Darksith said- it is all too real! Doctors care about statistics and legalities, only you really care about your own survival. And yes, there are legal ways to obtain a small dose of antibiotics in Canada "just in case"...

[nature girl]

I hate them damn ticks. I always look to see if they are on my cloths. I was up hunting in Chetwyn for a week and I had these little red things on me I got them walking thru the grass and thru the bush. They were about 1 mm or 2mm in size and had 6 legs. They would be on my pants and jacket. Thank god we were staying in a house every day after hunting I would wash my cloths and have a shower and today I washed all those cloths again in hot water. Whatever they were just grossed me out.
I went to a naturopathic doctor once and asked if there was anything you could take before incase you got a bite from a tick and she said no. Only that you could get treatment if you were already bitten. And i think she said the treatment at a naturopath had to start within 2 weeks or earlier of being bitten.

[Legi0n]

And yes, there are legal ways to obtain a small dose of antibiotics in Canada "just in case"...
do tell!


ps: I need to lengthen my reply

[XPEIer]

There was a special on tv a few weeks back about this in the US, basically it comes down to two seperate camps of doctors disputing "Chronic Lyme Disease", they agree that there is lyme disease and it will be cured in a 14 day treatment of antibiotics. What the other camp is saying is that there is chronic, you stop the 14 day treatment and the symptoms come back. Then it got detailed about the parasite itself and it may be the same species that causes ALS, Alzhiemers and other similar diseases.

Then, the insurance companies got involved, of course they are in bed with the camp that disbelieves in Chronic Lyme and therefore stop all payments at 14 days, even though some of these people never work again. Some doctors were continuing with a long term heavy dose of antibiotic treatment, they were taken to court by the powers that be, supported by evidence by the insurance companies and the 14 day camp of doctors and these doctors lost thier licence to practice.

In Canada, I doubt they would refuse treatment, but you may have trouble convincing a local GP to test you for it, unless you can show them the tick and the bullseye bruise.

Lyme can present itself in as many as 92 different symptoms, so getting through all of those first, then the correct diagnosis is the issue. Some of the poor *******s on that TV special went through hell, total loss of motor function, crippled right up, then after the heavy dose they were fine, one lady even went back to school for nursing.

As far as getting it while cleaning deer, if your near ticks you run the risk.

XPEIER

[Dmytro]

In Canada, I doubt they would refuse treatment, but you may have trouble convincing a local GP to test you for it, unless you can show them the tick and the bullseye bruise.


So you believe what they told on the TV about US doctors but somehow you are convinced that Canadian doctors are fundamentally different? Any specific reasons why you believe that?

Regarding tests: no medical lab is testing for presence of Lyme bacteria- not anywhere in the world. Only research labs look for the actual bacteria, usually by taking the research critters apart. The medical tests they run on humans are looking for immune reaction and those tests are inaccurate and pretty much meaningless. So convincing a GP to run a meaningless test and then waiting for results of those tests while a real nasty disease is likely in your body and is spreading rapidly does not sound like a good idea to me.

And to make it even more interesting, when I said "BC doctors refuse treatment" I did not mean GP kind of doctors. The one case I am familiar with involved a BC-based infectious disease doctor treating specifically for Lyme with antibiotics for a full month in conservative dosage, then one month later when symptoms returned this specialist doctor refused further treatment and advised to go back to GP so that GP can deal with symptoms instead of dealing with the cause.

[Gateholio]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/02/25/bc-lymedisease.html