Lyme disease cases on the rise in Montgomery County

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) — Montgomery County Health officials said there were thousands of cases of Lyme disease last year and that new ways of diagnosing the illness are leading to more accurate numbers and earlier help for those infected.

In Jeanette Suros' peaceful backyard stood some bad memories.

"There's multiple PTSD moments that I have to work through," she said. "And, I would have liked to not have to go through that every time."

Still, she tried to enjoy her herb garden while remembering nearly dying from Lyme disease spread by a tick bite in 2016 and again in 2019.

"I wasn't able to walk, I had to be in a wheelchair all the time," she said. "I wasn't able to even do regular household things."

Suros created a nonprofit called Lyme Light Now with her aunt. Together, they raise awareness of the disease in Montgomery and surrounding counties.

"We've been to a lot of farmers markets. Those have been a really great target place because a lot of people come out there," she said.

Suros wanted people to be aware of the symptoms of Lyme disease, which according to the CDC include fever, headache and rash . She also wanted people to get treated early to avoid advanced symptoms involving the joints, heart and nervous system. Dr. Richard Lorraine, medical director for the Montgomery County Office of Public Health, called the county and the state of Pennsylvania a "hotbed" for Lyme disease. He cited a number from 2023.

"7,170, which is a large number," said Lorraine.

He said doctors seeing the symptoms and not waiting on blood tests could lead to the disease being diagnosed sooner and more often.

"We use a term called pathognomonic, which means that if you see it, it is definitely Lyme disease," said Lorraine.

One person who saw Lyme disease impact her family is the owner of Mosquito Hunters , Chyvonne Shackelford-Bacon. Shackelford-Bacon not only fights mosquitoes but also shows homeowners where ticks can breed in their yards and how they can protect their families.

"Also, because I have a cousin that was affected by Lyme disease," she said. "And, he deals with the after-effects of that, so definitely something that was personal to me."

Elizabeth Rademaekers lives in Huntington Valley and is a client of Shackelford-Bacon. She remembered when her son contracted Lyme disease at age four while playing in their yard.

"Oh, I was a mess," she said. "Thank goodness we caught it early."

Now, she gets her yard treated. She also followed tips Shackelford-Bacon offered to anyone with a yard.

"Just keeping lawns at a nice low level so that the insects don't have a nice shaded place to hide," Shackelford-Bacon said. "Because they want to be in the shade and cool like us humans."

All this work to keep people safe from bug bites left Suros feeling empowered.

"That makes me feel great that they are actually seeing that there's something big happening here and we need to fix it," she said.