Officials Warn Hikers After Discovery of Tick That May Be Carrying Lyme Disease

Los Angeles County officials warned hikers on Thursday to be cautious in the Santa Monica Mountains after finding the first tick in the county showing evidence of carrying Lyme disease.

A hiker who frequents Topanga State Park reported finding the tick two weeks ago. Officials from the West Vector Control District said the tick tested positive for the disease, which can lead to severe neurological problems if left untreated.

Although authorities have suspected that ticks carrying the disease have been in the county for several years, they said the most recent finding--if confirmed with further tests on other ticks--would solidify those suspicions.

They recommended that all outdoor enthusiasts wear bright, long clothes, tuck pants into socks and wear tick repellent. In addition, they recommended checking for ticks daily after hiking outdoors.

“We want to caution everybody about this,” said Robert Saviskas, the head of the county’s West Vector Control District, at a news conference Thursday in the state park.

“Until we have further confirmation, it’s in the best interests of the public to take the precautions against ticks that they should have been taking all along.”

Lyme disease has long been a fact of life on the East Coast, where up to 90% of the ticks in some areas carry the disease.

In California, most cases of the disease have been reported in Northern California.

County health officials say at least four cases of Lyme disease since 1989 pointed to a local source of origin.

Twenty-eight cases of the disease have been reported by Los Angeles County authorities since 1989. Since 1983, 2,118 cases have been reported in California.

Also, Lyme-carrying ticks have been found at Ft. Tejon in Kern County and in San Bernardino County, said Dr. Robert Murray, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Health Services.

If confirmed, Thursday’s finding would provide further proof of the disease’s origin in Los Angeles County, health authorities said.

“It’s very important to know whether there are actually ticks that have been identified with the disease. It’s one of the chinks that gives validity to the human cases,” said Gail Van Gordon, public health entomologist for the county’s Department of Health Services.

But Gordon and other county health officials reacted angrily to their fellow county agency’s announcement, saying that proper notification procedures weren’t followed about the finding.

And they pointed out that the test, performed by a private lab, had not been confirmed by state laboratory officials.

The disease, which can also affect dogs and horses, is transmitted through the Western black-legged tick, a smaller cousin of the more common dog tick.

In most cases, the tick must feed between 12 to 24 hours before transmitting the disease, which can be treated with antibiotics in the early stages. A vaccine against the disease will probably receive Food and Drug Administration approval within the year.

Early symptoms are flu-like and can include a red rash similar to a bull’s-eye surrounding the initial bite. Later symptoms include severe soreness in the joints and neurological problems such as loss of memory. In rare cases, the disease can be fatal.

Time correspondent Claire Vitucci contributed to this report.