Authored by Ray Bradbury in 1962, this dark fantasy novel written about a group of youngsters who face a nightmarish experience with a traveling carnival in their small town and how they learned to overcome their fears.

Now you’re probably wondering, “What on earth has gotten into Paula and where is she going with this?” Wait for it, wait for it, OK, here is the connection…

In the past couple of weeks, the news media has been filled with information about ticks and diseases. I have to commend them for their steadfast commitment to continued awareness being raised about a problem that we’ve yet been able to control. Now we’re hearing about the Asian Longhorn tick, a perceived growing threat here in the US. The Centers for Disease Control have stated that this species of tick is not normally found in the US and is known for its ability to mass produce. Native to Russia, Korea, China and Japan, it was discovered on a farm in New Jersey in 2017 when a woman was infested with thousands of ticks after shearing her sheep, also infested. It has since spread to eight other states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia and has been found on a variety of hosts including people, wildlife, domestic animals and in the environment. The fact that this tick can produce 1,000-2,000 eggs at one time and doesn’t need a mate to reproduce can result in an infestation of hundreds to thousands of ticks from a single tick makes this entire matter a nightmarish experience that Maine has yet to encounter, with a strong emphasis on yet.

The other threat that has touched Maine is Alpha Gal Syndrome, a tick-borne disease credited to the Lonestar tick, that causes a food allergy to red meat. I wish I could say I was making this up but I assure you that this is real, that this is not new but it is new to Maine and there have been real cases reported and lab-confirmed. So, what is Alpha Gal Syndrome? It is a condition that most often begins when a Lonestar tick transmits a sugar molecule called “alpha gal” into its human host through a tick bite, triggering an immune system response that produces a mild to severe reaction when red meat (beef and pork) is consumed. Symptoms can range (but are not limited to) loose bowels, nausea, hives, respiratory afflictions and anaphylaxis (a sever reaction that shuts down your body’s ability to breathe). There is a blood test that can adequately diagnose this, it can be treated and the recovery period can vary from weeks to months (years if not properly diagnosed). Now, not all Lonestar ticks carry alpha gal. They are also known to carry borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme Disease), Erlichiosis and Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness also known as STARI.

So, as if preventing a tick encounter from deer and dog ticks wasn’t difficult enough and raising awareness about Lyme Disease and the ever rising Anaplasmosis and Babesia (a malaria-based tick borne disease) and educating people about the rise in symptoms and/or reduction of the presence of the classic bulls-eye wasn’t difficult enough, we now have to be on alert for self-reproducing ticks and ticks that can cause severe food allergy afflictions. I have spoken to at least half a dozen people in the Midcoast area who have tested positive for Alpha Gal and who are just as disoriented as the rest of us when it comes to getting a proper diagnosis and adequate treatment of a tick-borne disease.

How is it that researchers can recognize the dangers of the Asian Longhorn tick and diagnosis a red meat allergy as being caused by the Lonestar tick and yet, we are still at odds with one another when it comes to diagnosing and treating Lyme Disease? I have seen the tides turning, my friends, and I have seen things being acknowledged and brought into the light that I never thought would come. I have seen researchers no longer able to deny what is right in front of them. We have the research, it is evidence-based. We have the tests that are able to confirm different tick-borne diseases. What we now have to wrap our heads around and get onboard with is just how far the destruction can go from a single tick bite. We have to continue educating our providers so that patients are being properly diagnosed and treated early. No more allowing tick-borne disease to become chronic, to become a nightmarish experience.

Something wicked might come this way but with knowledge and experience, we can be prepared and being prepared empowers us and reduces our fears. Knowledge is power and where there is power, fear cannot exist or reside.

Paula is the president of the MLDSE, the co-chair of the Access to Care Services and Patient Support subcommittee of the Federal HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group, the Maine-partner of the national Lyme Disease Association, member of Maine’s CDC Vector-borne Workgroup and active in Maine’s Lyme legislation. You can reach her at paula@mldse.org and visit her website www.mldse.org