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In other news, with spring starting

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earlier, and warmer weather

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lingering deeper into the fall,

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the tick season is expanding.

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Wisconsin is already a hotspot for

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ticks in the U.S., second in the

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nation, after some locations on

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the East Coast.

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And with the deer tick prevalent

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across the state, cases of

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Lyme disease are also on the

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rise, spiking already

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this month ahead of last year.

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And 2024 marked a

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record of nearly 2,500

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Lyme disease cases in Wisconsin.

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Could that be surpassed this year?

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Researchers at Gunderson Medical

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Foundation are staying on top of

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the disease.

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Dr. Eric Sabin leads the research

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there and he joins us now.

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Thanks for being here, doctor.

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Happy to do it.

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How alarming is it that the

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tick population is growing and with

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it cases of Lyme disease?

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Well, I think that it's it's

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not going away, and I think that

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as a disease in our

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region, I I think we should get

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pretty comfortable with the idea

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that it is a threat that will

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probably become more common over

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time, especially when you figure

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in changes to weather and how

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often people are outside doing

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outdoor recreation.

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Seems like a thing that's going to

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be with us going into the future.

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And so what should people do about

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that? I know that you have said

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that, you know, prevention is

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better than a cure.

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So what's the best prevention here?

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Generally speaking, be aware that if

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you're going outside and you're

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gonna be in a place where ticks

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might be, real simple

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things, wearing long sleeves,

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long pants, tucking

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your pants into your socks, wearing

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bright clothing so you can identify

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ticks when they get attached to you

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and remove them before they have a

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chance to attach to your body, and

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getting in the habit of making sure

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that you look for ticks that might

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be attached to your skin after you

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have been out in the woods or out in

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a the place that there might be a

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lot of ticks.

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We know that if you remove these

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things from you before they've had a

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chance to attach for too long, the

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transmission risk of Lyme disease is

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very, very low or negligible.

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So we recommend people be very

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vigilant to that sort of thing once

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they come back in from a

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recreational outing.

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If you do contract Lyme

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disease, is there a cure for it?

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There are exceptional treatments.

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We've been using antibiotics for

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a very, very long time.

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Yes, people can be cured,

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but it's a pretty serious illness in

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a lot of folks and certainly has no

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limits on its ability to produce

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misery in those who get it.

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But yes, we can usually treat people

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very effectively, especially if

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we catch the disease early.

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So what are some of the kind of

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worst symptoms?

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The ones that patients have told me

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are the most disturbing are the ones

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that involve the joints.

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And I've had patients that have

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very significant problems with their

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mobility and very significant joint

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pain going into months, sometimes

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almost a year.

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And for people who are otherwise

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real active or at a real active

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phase in their life, it can

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significantly disrupt their quality

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of life to a major degree.

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So, does it matter

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if it is diagnosed and treated

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early versus later?

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The way that the disease operates is

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that it produces inflammatory

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reactions in the human body that

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have a tendency to progress, change,

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and worsen over the course of time

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if the infection is not treated.

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Generally speaking, it's better if

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you take care of it sooner rather

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than later.

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Lots of the cases don't get

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recognized until weeks or even

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months have elapsed, and at that

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point, the symptoms have.

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Often times been much more

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dramatic but generally speaking it's

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a good idea to try to get antibiotic

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treatment for people very soon and

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you have a tendency not to then

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progress into the real serious

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joints or cardiac or neurological

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complications after that.

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How would you know that

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you had it?

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Well, there are certainly tests that

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we can use. A lot of things in

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medicine depend on clinical context.

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And so it starts

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with somebody seeking care and

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bringing up the idea that they may

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have been outside or may have had

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tick bites or may been exposed to

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ticks. And then it relies on the

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part of the healthcare provider to

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recognize that it's in our area and

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it has a pretty diverse

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array of presentations.

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So you combine the right place

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at the right time kind of risk

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factor profile with the person

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presenting with the right features

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of the illness.

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And at that instance, you know, you

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take action.

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You can give people treatment.

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A lot of times you can prevent

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things from getting much worse.

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So has research developed good tests

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to diagnose Lyme disease?

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I'm biased. I think that the testing

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can work and can be effective in

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some circumstances, but it has a lot

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of limits by virtue of how it works.

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Most of the present testing is based

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on immunological reactions through

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a process we call serology.

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And there are pros and cons to that.

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Those tests have advantages in

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that they can show us immunological

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reactivity and recognition, but they

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also can be very difficult to

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interpret. They don't behave, so to

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speak, the way that a lot about the

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serological tests do because of the

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strange disease.

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And we don't really have the tests

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that I think are colloquial as well

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understood as something like a

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pregnancy test You know pregnancy

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test doesn't leave much doubt about

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what the result means The

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problem with Lyme disease testing in

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current use is is that it's just

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simply not that straightforward in

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a lot of cases It can be ambiguous

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And so in that instance,

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if the results are ambiguous,

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should a patient ask to be

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treated?

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I would suggest that any patient

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have an individual discussion with

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their provider and make some

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decision making on what makes

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sense for the risk benefit, pros and

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cons scenario.

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You should always be forthright with

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your doctors about what you

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think is going on and health care

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practitioners should be attentive

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and mindful of what patients

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might have experienced.

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In medical school they told me you

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can't diagnose what you don't think

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of and a lot of times things that

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are not being considered are

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diagnoses that can get missed delay.

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So in this region,

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on the part of patients, know that

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it's out there, and on the part of

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practitioners, know it's a thing

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that people can walk into the office

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with.

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And if the circumstances make sense

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and favor treatment,

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go ahead and do it.

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Give it a try.

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I know that your lab helped develop

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the first Lyme disease vaccine for

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dogs.

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How far are we from a vaccine for

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humans?

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There have been vaccines for humans.

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The original Limerick's vaccine was

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offered for a while and then taken

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off the market.

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There have other attempts at

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developing similar vaccines.

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There are pros and cons to the

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different vaccine strategies being

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used, both in animals and in humans.

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Our hope and our work is trying

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to find a effective,

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protective vaccination that can be

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used in humans that would function

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in more or less the same sort of way

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as a vaccine that a person might get

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one time or even perhaps once

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a season and then provide protection

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going into the whole rest of

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that year or that season.

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Some progress has been made on that

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lots of dead ends.

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It's a hard area of work.

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Well, thank you for doing that work.

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Dr. Sabin, thanks for joining us.

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I appreciate it. Thank you very

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much.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, appreciate it.

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Good luck with that garlic muster.

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Yeah, it's a mess.

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They told me get goats and goats

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are... Goats wreck things.

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Pigs are easier to fence than I

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think.

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How many pigs do you have?

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We have four now uh...

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Probably piglets in the next two

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weeks uh...

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You know uh...

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We might have as many as another

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eight or ten it really depends

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they're sure the small pig there

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hairpigs called coonies uh...

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Cooney cooney pigs uh...

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They're delicious they're actually

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not raised