New Jersey among states hardest hit by Lyme disease
Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that can cause debilitating symptoms, is caused by the tick-borne spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, according to the New England Journal ofMedicine.

Lyme and other tick-borne diseases include anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, bartonella, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. They can cause headaches, cranial neuropathy, lymphocytic meningitis, dementia, nervous system problems and facial palsy. Although early symptoms can be treated with antibiotics, the Journal says the symptoms resolve within months even if untreated.

However, according to members of the LymeQuest Support Group and Advocacy Project, the symptoms can last for years and become debilitating, commonly misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, lupus, Lou Gehrig's disease and Alzheimer's.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 23,000 cases reported annually, but because Lyme is a clinical diagnosis by a physician, the numbers could be 10 to 12 times as high, especially since patients are constantly misdiagnosed. Lyme is prevalent in 65 countries around the world.

From 1990 to 2006, New Jersey has had one of the highest incidences of Lyme disease cases in the nation, as measured by the CDC surveillance criteria, and Monmouth County ranks second in the state.

"It is pretty much epidemic-proportioned in many areas of the world. It's a great problem," said Pat Smith, president of the National Lyme Disease Association.

Also, according to a study published in 1993, the long-term cost of Lyme disease to families, school systems, the health care system and the economy is $1 billion per year, and the average treatment, diagnosis and lost wages related to Lyme is over $60,000 per year per patient. Since cases have more than doubled since then, costs could be over $2 billion.

This is the reason Lyme activist and support groups are pushing for a congressional hearing of HR741: Lyme & Tick-borne Disease Prevention, Education and Research Act of 2007. To become a proponent, visit www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org or contact Rep. Frank Pallone, the chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, at 202-225-4671.

- Jennifer Amato