The Lowdown on Lyme Disease

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Enter Maxforce, a new product comprised of a baited box that lures mice inside, where they are wicked with fipronil. This is the same chemical used in Frontline products, which are used to control fleas and ticks on dogs and cats. In a four-year CDC study, Maxforce provided 96-percent control of ticks in a 10-acre tract, but it's a pricey cure. Contracting for Maxforce installation and monitoring through a licensed exterminator will cost you $300 to $600 a year. Maxforce is available only through pest management professionals in the Northeast. For more information, visit www.maxforcetms.com .

PROTECT YOURSELF

Because humans are a preferred host for ticks, it is crucial to never forget this when venturing into places where Lyme disease-carrying ticks are likely to find you. Local health departments, park rangers and close neighbors can tell you whether Lyme disease is common in a particular area.

"Dress like a geek," advises researcher Ostfeld. That means wearing long pants with the cuffs tucked into your socks, although Weld warns that if you employ this method, ticks may end up hiking towards the back of your neck, a tough spot to check. Light-colored clothing makes it easier to spot ticks, and if you're finding ticks regularly, keeping a sticky tape-type lint roller handy is a good idea, too. This little gizmo will pick up unattached ticks from clothing or pets, which also can contract Lyme disease (dogs are particularly at risk). (For more on how to protect your pets, see "Flea and Tick Control Have You Scratching Your Head?" August/September 2002.)

When you come indoors after outside activities, give your clothes a hot 10-minute spin in a clothes dryer to kill any ticks that might be hiding in the folds or seams. Take a hot, soapy bath (Duffy says a salt water swim is surprisingly effective, too, if you're close to the ocean), and check yourself thoroughly for tiny foreign dark dots, paying special attention to moist body creases in the armpits, groin, hairline, scalp, waistband and the backs of your knees. Let someone else check you, if you can, because it's hard to check your own scalp and backside. Check yourself before bed, too.

You also can apply an herbal or a DEET-based repellent to exposed skin or your clothes, but don't expect it to give you total protection. Ticks won't feed on skin sprayed with DEET, but they will scamper over it to find a hospitable spot. Use DEET sparingly, especially on children.

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