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that we do what's best for
Wisconsin.

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Merrifield, thanks very
much.

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>> In other news, with
spring starting earlier and

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warmer weather lingering
deeper into the fall, the

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tick season is expanding.
Wisconsin is already a hot

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spot for ticks in the U.S.
second in the nation after

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some locations on the East
Coast. And with the deer

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tick prevalent across the
state, cases of Lyme

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disease are also on the
rise, spiking already this

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month ahead of last year
and 2024 marked a record of

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nearly 2500 Lyme disease
cases in Wisconsin. Could

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that be surpassed this year?
Researchers at Gundersen

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Medical Foundation are
staying on top of the

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disease. Doctor Eric Sabin
leads the research there,

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and he joins us now. Thanks
for being here, doctor.

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>> Happy to do it.
>> How alarming is it that

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the tick population is
growing. And with it cases

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of Lyme disease.
>> Well I think that it's

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it's not going away. And I
think that as a disease in

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our region, I think we
should get pretty

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that it's a threat that
will probably become more

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common over time,
especially when you figure

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in changes to weather and
how often people are

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outside doing outdoor
recreation. It seems like a

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thing that's going to be
with us going into the

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future.
>> And so what should

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people do about that? I
know that you have said

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that, you know, prevention
is better than a cure. So

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what's the best prevention
here?

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>> Generally speaking, be
aware that if you're going

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outside and you're going to
be in a place where ticks

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might be, we know that if
you remove these things

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from you before they've had
a chance to attach for too

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long, the transmission risk
of Lyme disease is very,

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very low or negligible. So
we recommend people be very

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vigilant to that sort of
thing before they once they

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come back in from a
recreational outing.

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>> If you do a contract
Lyme disease, is there a

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cure for it?
>> There are exceptional

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treatments. We've been
using antibiotics for a

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very, very long time. Yes,
people can be cured, but

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it's a pretty serious
illness and a lot of folks

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and certainly has no no
limits on its ability to

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produce misery and those
who get it. But yes, we can

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usually treat people very
effectively, especially if

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we catch the disease early.
>> So what are some of the

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worst symptoms of it?
>> The ones that patients

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have told me are the most
disturbing are the ones

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that involve the joints.
And I've had patients that

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have very significant
problems with their

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mobility and very
significant joint pain

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going into months,
sometimes almost a year.

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And for people who are
otherwise real active or at

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a real active phase in
their life, it can it can

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significantly disrupt their,
major degree.

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>> So does it matter if it
is diagnosed and treated

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early versus later?
>> The way that the disease

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operates is that it
produces inflammatory

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reactions in the human body
that that have a tendency

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to progress, change, and
worsen over the course of

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time if the infection is
not treated. Generally

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speaking, it's better if
you take care of it sooner

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rather than later. Lots of
the cases don't get

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recognized until weeks or
even months have elapsed,

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and at that point, the
symptoms have oftentimes

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been much more dramatic.
But generally speaking,

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it's a good idea to try to
get antibiotic treatment

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for people very soon, and
they have a tendency not to

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then progress into the real
serious joint or cardiac or

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neurological complications
after that.

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>> How would you know that
that you had it early?

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>> Well, there are
certainly tests that we can

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use. A lot of things in
medicine depend on clinical

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context. And so the it
starts with somebody

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seeking care and bringing
up the idea that they may

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have been outside or may
have had tick bites or may

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have been exposed to ticks.
And then it relies on the

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part of the health care
provider to recognize that

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it's in our area. And it
has a pretty diverse array

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of presentations. And so
you combine, you know, the

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right place at the right
time kind of risk factor

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profile with the person
presenting with the right

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And at that instance, you
know, you take action, you

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can give people treatment.
A lot of times you can

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prevent things from getting
much worse.

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>> So has research
developed good tests to

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diagnose Lyme disease?
>> I'm biased. I think that

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the testing can work and
can be effective in some

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circumstances, but it has a
lot of limits by virtue of

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how it works. Most of the
present testing is based on

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immunological reactions
through a process we call

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serology. And there are
pros and cons to that.

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Those tests have advantages
and that they can show us

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immunological reactivity
and recognition, but they

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also can be very difficult
to interpret. They don't

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behave, so to speak, the
way that a lot of other

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serological tests do,
because it's a strange

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disease and we don't really
have tests that I think are

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colloquially as well
understood as something

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like a pregnancy test. A
pregnancy test doesn't

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leave much doubt about what
the result means. The

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problem with Lyme disease
testing in current use is,

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is that it's just simply
not that straightforward.

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In a lot of cases, it can
be ambiguous.

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>> And so in that instance,
if the results are

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ambiguous, should a patient
ask to be treated anyway.

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>> I would suggest that any
patient have an individual

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discussion with their
provider and make some

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decision making on what
makes sense for the risk

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benefit. Pros and cons you
know scenario. You should

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always be forthright with
your doctors about what you

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know you think is going on.
And health care

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practitioners should be
attentive and mindful of

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what patients might have
experienced in medical

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school. They told me, you
can't diagnose what you

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don't think of. And a lot
of times things that are

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not being considered are
diagnoses that can get

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missed or delayed.
>> Well, thank you for

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doing that work, doctor
doing that work, doctor