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There's a great job beckoning my husband from Lexington, MA. We live in Los Angeles and were seriously considering it, but then I discovered information about the abundance of ticks and their diseases.
While I know we can get Lyme here- the amount of ticks around town and even in the woods is significantly less here. I think we only had about 50 confirmed cases of Lyme as compared to the over 3,000 cases confirmed in MA.
We need to move into a bigger house and better town so we've been shopping. This job perfectly matches my husband's skill set as he is an expert in a particular niche. Most likely they won't match his pay right now, but he would have the chance to go to MIT and get his PHD.
I like the schools. I love this town of Acton. If it weren't for the ticks I'd be so excited. I suffer from a bit of anxiety and the thought of little poppy seed sized ticks hiding in my children's ears or private parts terrifies me. I have three kids, two large dogs, and two indoor/outdoor cats. Doing tick checks every day sounds very stressful.
SO. My question is-- Are ticks a major concern for this area and is chronic Lyme a huge problem? Am I getting the wrong idea from my internet research?
All in all my family's health is my biggest concern.
I live in Acton. We have 2 kids and a dog, and our house backs up to woods that deer regularly prance through. I have had Lyme. I knew the warning signs, sought treatment immediately, and was fine within a few days of antibiotics. Lyme is a concern in the northeast, but I think it is just one of those things you learn to deal with - like snow in the winter. You wear appropriate clothes, landscape your yard appropriately, use repellent, do tick checks, and educate yourself on symptoms to watch out for. The tick checks are not a big deal. Usually, after spending a significant time outside, my kids need a shower anyway. So, I throw them in the tub and do the tick check at that time.
Is Acton only place? Did you even visited this area yet?
If you live closer to Cambridge/Boston urban core, abundant with family homes on smaller lots and sidewalks--ticks are not concern. Acton is more spread out, car oriented, with country vibe, but far from the not only place to live if you move to MA.
Acton is certainly good town where your housing dollars stretches little further. but you could also look in places like Arlington, Watertown, or Belmont, which are more semi-urban in character, with sidewalks, shops, and no ticks in your backyard unless you are backing into conservation areas, or your home is on the town outskirts. Same applies to closer to town center neighborhoods in Concord and Lexington. There are options for sure.
Ticks in MA are a fact of life when in the woods, with roaming pets, or having big acreage far in the burbs, but dressing accordingly, checking diligently, and using repellent is what people do. Most hike freely, and Lyme is not big topic around here. I would personally avoid living where daily checkups are a must, too.
You know what your priorities are when hunting for a new home, but all of us compromise on something when buying RE.
Martha's Vineyard has a big problem with Lyme disease, I'm not sure anywhere else in the state does.
I live somewhere kingeorge would no doubt consider "rural" (2 acres backs up to conservation land). We get lots of deer wandering through the yard, none of us or the dogs have ever gotten Lyme.
We live on the north shore and our dog got Lyme Disease. He was covered in ticks; even after we had pulled about a dozen off, the vet found 24 more. Of course we live by the ocean and ticks live around the salt marshes and grasses. Luckily we caught it soon enough so that with antibiotics and a vaccination, the dog is still doing great two years later. He still has the Lyme antibodies in his system though. As a previous poster said, the important thing is to catch it in time.
It's just a part of life now. You have to look out if you've been out in the woods or out walking around. Not so much in a built up suburb or city. People do live in towns like Acton and if ticks were a huge problem I don't think anyone would live there.
I just went thru this exact dilemma with my wife. I urge you don't move to acton if lyme concerns you. The biggest benefit of living in towns like acton, groton, westford, concord etc is the abundance of natural space (hiking, woods, outdoor life). If you are too worried about ticks to enjoy it, this benefit is canceled.
Take a look at the article below, which shows the incidence rate of Lyme by town. Acton had about 166 cases per 100,000 residents. Compare to other towns, Acton has a moderate risk of Lyme.
I live in a rural area. My town, according to this map, has about the same incidence rate of Lyme as Acton. Soon after we moved here, my husband got Lyme. It is nasty, but treatable. With antibiotics, he was fine after a week. It has been three years and he has had no further issues. Neither me nor my kids have had an issue with Lyme or ticks.
The bottom line is you have to practice prevention because even if you live in an area with a lower incidence of Lyme, you could contract it. Bug spray and tick checks go a long way as does recognizing the symptoms of the illness. We never saw the tick on my husband, so we had no idea that he contracted Lyme. Thankfully, his doctor recognized the symptoms right away.
Well don't vacation on the Cape or South Shore if you are afraid of Lyme either. It's an epidemic.
Most people I know on Cape have had or been treated for it. It amazes me how many people are unaware of the prevalence of tick born illnesses like Lyme, Babesiosis and Anoplasmosis and now red meat allergies? from the bite of a Lone Star Tick- which are very fast and very aggressive.
Do you have any proof of this other than a wiki link to a book?
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