Loudoun Supervisors Initiate Lyme Disease Awareness Campaign

March 22, 2012

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has officially proclaimed 2012 to be Lyme Disease Awareness Year in Loudoun County.

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Supervisor Janet Clarke (R-Blue Ridge), collaborating with colleagues Geary Higgins (R-Catoctin) and Ken Reid (R-Leesburg), initated the awareness campagin which includes a “10 Point Action Plan” to mitigate Lyme Disease in Loudoun County in “an effort to bring this health crisis to the forefront.” Loudoun County has been called one of the most active Lyme endemic areas of the country.

The full ten-point plan can be read on the NatCapLyme website at Loudoun Ten Point Plan.

The 10 points include:

1. Create a Lyme Disease Commission, charged with implementing the 10 Point Plan, enlisting the help of citizens and organizations who focus on Lyme disease.
2. Create a Lyme survey, to determine the current key risk factors for contracting Lyme disease and other relevant statistics.
3. Add a high-profile link to the front page of the Loudoun County website.
4. Develop educational materials targeting different age groups.
5. Organize a series of Lyme Education Forums within the County.
6. Work with the local newspapers for a series of monthly articles regarding advances prevention and treatment, a spraying schedule for public parks.
7. Establish a list of doctors that specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and provide this information on the County’s Lyme webpage in addition to any new educational materials.
8. Inform homeowners on the costs and benefits of spraying their yards for ticks.
9. Provide a Lyme education awareness briefing to all children enrolled in Parks and Recreation outdoor programs. There are approximately 10,000 children enrolled in these outdoor recreation camps.
10. Study the cost and feasibility of implementing insecticide applications that will immediately begin to mitigate the spread of Lyme disease in Loudoun.
    1. Spraying county-owned property.
    2. Four Poster Deer Feeders: With the VA Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF) study the feasibility of a county program for four-poster devices to control the tick population.