Wiley L-R: Bill Merrigan, Claudia Reda, Joy Walker, Mimi Segal, Ben Beard, Monte Skall, Sarah Wiley, Kathy Boileau, Don Boileau

Washington, D.C., Wednesday, June 25, 2009 — Twelve members of the board of the National Capital Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Association met with Dr. Ben Beard from the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Ft. Collins office and Sarah Wiley from the CDC’s Atlanta office to exchange information and discuss their concerns related to Lyme and tick-borne diseases. A planned three-hour meeting extended to nearly four. Dr. Beard began the meeting with a presentation which included an overview of the organizational structure of the CDC and many statistical charts indicating the increasing cases of Lyme which define the disease as an epidemic. He presented the CDC’s seven-part strategic plan for dealing with the disease, which we will make available to you on our website next week. The presentation stretched to nearly two hours, since many board members responded to his invitation to ask questions during his talk.

Board members then presented their concerns during the next two hours, covering the following topics: (1) prevention using the Four Poster technique; (2) CDC website links to IDSA; (3) CDC changes in website information on Lyme testing; (4) distribution of more and balanced public information; (5) problems with Lyme testing; (6) tick testing; (7) misuse of the CDC case definition; (8) consistency of use of terms for ongoing or chronic Lyme; (9) surveillance reporting issues; (10) the need for Lyme disease to become a high priority in research; and (11) issues concerning the use of CDC materials in legal cases.

NatCapLyme responded quickly to the invitation that the CDC extended less than a month ago. The representatives of both groups expressed thanks for the opportunity to have the useful interchange of concerns and information.