Lyme Alert!
Don’t you just love slithering along the ground sneaking up on critters? Does your pure aboriginal instinct keep you grounded? Do you crave allthings down to earth? Did you wallow in Mother Natrure’s puckerbrush this spring turkey season to much stimulating delight? Are you enjoying shed hunting in the summertime Spirit of the Wild hinterlands? How about those scrumptious, cherished morel mushrooms, wild asparagus, leeks and scallions back in our favorite balliwhack! Berries coming soon! Does your wildground celebration never end?
Beyond the pavement is where our hunter’s hearts are and where we get our biggest kicks in life, that’s for sure. But there is danger lurking in the outback that we must come to grips with more now than ever.
The dreaded Lyme disease is increasing like never before across North America, and instead of the 10s of thousands of cases diagnosed just a few short years ago, now the Center for Disease Control estimates there are more than 3MILLION cases out there each and every year.
With a history of misdiagnosis and consistent false positives for this deadly disease, Lyme represents a very serious threat for outdoor families everywhere.
I could get all technical into the history, science and biology of Lyme, but suffice it to say, that the bite of these nasty little ticks can wreak havoc on our outdoor lifestyle and life itself.
Know that the various ticks that carry and transmit the disease are at an alltime high, which makes the threat and danger at an alltime high, which of course demands our awareness to be at an alltime high as well.
Sadly, Lyme represents a major medical epidemic going on in the US. Most sporters have heard of Lyme, but don’t know that more than twice as many people are being diagnosed with Lyme annually than women with breast cancer. Nearly three times as many with Lyme than men and women with colon cancer. Horror of horrors, 1 out of 3 adults who get Chronic Lyme are committing suicide. With teenagers its closer to 50%. 72% of the people are being misdiagnosed.
Six different Lyme illnesses can be fatal. In Minnesota and Wisconsin 79% of the deer ticks carry co-infection’s.
Craig Engwall, of the Minnesota Deer Hunters Association is a classic example. He has had Lyme three times, but the second time also got Anaplasmosis and Babesiosis from the same bite, all three which can be fatal for humans and take different treatments. He can never give blood again because Babesiosis never goes away.
The biggest problem is that there has not been anyplace in North America where folks can get comprehensive education about all Lyme illnesses, symptoms, culprits or solutions.
That was true until February 1st, 2018. With the help of the best tick experts available in North America, our BloodBrother, legendary sporter Babe Winkelman put together 10 companies in a consortium and have built the only “Tick-Borne Illness Information Center” in North America.
The information is all there from the number one Doctor, a tick diagnostic center and research labs and others. Its FREE for everyone so we can educate ourselves and families and learn how to be tick free. Education is the only answer because fire is the only thing that effectively halts tick growth and America has long since stopped controlled burning that was keeping them at bay. The tick center lives on Babe’s website at winkelman.com.
Keeping yourself tick free Is not expensive and easy to do once you learn how. Know that the ticks are out there waiting for a bloodmeal every day and we have to do the right things right, EVERY DAY, to keep our families safe. We must be vigilante and it needs to become a regular daily routine when we go anywhere a tick can be found, which of course is everywhere!
Outdoor folks of all types are at the highest risk, but so are the people that live in suburbs, go for a walk in a city park, or play a round of golf. Tick numbers are at an alltime high in all 50 states and most of Canada. According to the tick experts we have trillions and trillions of ticks now. When a female deer tick lays 1500 to 5000 eggs then dies we only lose one tick. Trillions live on!
Great organizations are stepping up to educate the outdoor world. The NWTF, REMF, DU, QDMA, NWF, JWA, MDHA, Wildlife Forever, Great Days Outdoors, Whitetail forever, Game Fair and Benelli are all helping out with all they can, not only with mailings and postings but magazine articles, newsletters and social media.
NWTF is doing an episode for their television series. Get Outdoors TV and Wild TV are populating their networks with PSA’s and other tools. Shemane and I will dedicate numerous episodes of Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild TV to Lyme awareness, prevention and treatment.
Quality of life begins and ends with quality health. Spread the word about this dreaded disease and visit Babe Winkelman’s website www.Winkelman.com for details and updates.
Our beloved hunting/outdoor lifestyle is an all year-round adventure. Be educated, be alert, be aware.
