Warnings May Be Posted as Result of Lyme Disease Case : Health: The victim is believed to be first infected in the county. Officials say residents stand little chance of contracting the illness.

Sharon Moxley of Foster Park didn’t think of Lyme disease last May when her knees began to ache and soreness spread to her ankles and eventually to other joints.

Within days, the 34-year-old housewife was unable to hold a hair dryer or cooking utensil. Even the simple act of dressing became a painful exercise.

“It was devastating,” the mother of two said. Although Moxley’s condition was diagnosed earlier, county health officials last week confirmed her as the first person to contract tick-spread Lyme disease in Ventura County.

“I was thinking it was some awful thing, like multiple sclerosis,” Moxley said Tuesday about the condition that had made climbing the stairs at her suburban home an impossible task.

On Tuesday, Ventura County Health Director Larry Dodds said that warning signs may be posted in the Camp Comfort area, south of Ojai, where Moxley was probably infected.

But Dodds said that the case appears to be isolated, and that area residents run little risk of contracting the debilitating illness that East Coast residents have had to contend with for years.

In 1989 and 1990, six cases of Lyme disease were reported in Ventura County, state health officials said. There were 595 cases reported statewide during the same period.

Because Lyme disease can remain dormant without symptoms for more than a year, Dodds said he believes that the few other cases in the county were contracted in other areas.

“Lyme disease is still a rare event in Southern California,” Dodds said. “The potential is here, but the likelihood is still extremely small.”

Since Lyme disease was first diagnosed in 1975 and named after a cluster of cases near Lyme, Conn., more than 30,000 cases have been reported nationwide. In California, most cases have been reported in the humid climates along the northern coast, a habitat favored by the deer ticks that carry the disease.

Although victims can experience a variety of symptoms--including headaches, fatigue and sore joints--the disease is easily treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early, health officials say.

But when the condition remains untreated, the disease can result in chronic arthritis and damage to joints, said Charles Myers of the State Department of Health Services.

Myers said Southern California’s arid climate may be a factor in keeping down the spread of the disease, since the area can support fewer tick-carrying mammals than more humid regions, Myers said.

Dodds said Ventura County authorities have searched for Lyme ticks without success. He estimated that fewer than one in 1,000 ticks in Ventura County carry Lyme disease.

In some areas on the East Coast, as many as 40% of ticks carry organisms that cause Lyme disease, Dodds said.

For Moxley, the first victim of the disease infected within the county, prompt treatment has prevented more serious complications of the illness, he said.

FYI

To prevent tick bites, experts suggest using insect repellents when walking in brushy areas. Health officials also recommend that hikers wear protective clothing that snugly cover the arms and legs, and that they frequently inspect clothing and skin for ticks. They estimate, however, that fewer than one in 1,000 ticks in the county are infected with Lyme disease.