ARKANSAS (KTHV) - Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the country, but data shows it’s not common in Arkansas. However, Arkansans claiming they have Lyme disease are trying to change that.
Thursday, May 24, Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed a proclamation to raise awareness about the disease.
Lyme disease is transmitted to humans through tick bites and results in fevers, headaches, fatigue and skin rashes. Left untreated, those symptoms get worse, but that’s what hundreds who claim to have the disease say is happening in Arkansas.
For the second year in a row, Gov. Hutchinson signed a proclamation recognizing May as Lyme Disease Awareness month.
"I’m with you on this," said Hutchinson. The Arkansas Department of Health has confirmed two cases in the state, in the last decade.
"The Arkansas Department of Health is kind of denying an infected insect lives in the state," said Amy Rose, co-founder of Arkansas Lyme Foundation. Those two cases were Rose’s co-founder, Alarie Bowerman’s daughters.
“My daughters went to a campout in the front yard of their girl scout troop leader’s house and all three of them came back with Lyme disease," said Bowerman.
Because she had trouble finding a physician to treat her daughters, they sought treatment in Kansas.
“Arkansas has the highest population of ticks in any state, but they do not diagnose Lyme Disease here," said Rose.
Because the CDC categorizes Arkansas as a low-incidence state, the state health department encourages physicians to consider other diagnoses first, like viral infections, fibromyalgia or arthritis.
"I kept thinking, there is no way a bug bite can make me this ill, somethings wrong with my body, 26 doctors later I got the right diagnosis and I’m healing from that disease now," said Rose.
They hope the proclamation will enhance surveillance of the disease and improve proper diagnosis.
The CDC recommends a two-step process when testing blood for Lyme disease.
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