How to Prevent Tick Bites, Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases in Humans and Pets
Tuesday, June 2, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.
Lunenburg Public Library, 1023 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, MA
This is the season for enjoying the outdoors, whether hiking, gardening, or just playing in the yard, but many of us have had contact with ticks, tick bites, and even Lyme disease. How can you protect your family and pets from tick bites and prevent tick-borne diseases like Lyme, Babesiosis, and Anaplasmosis? Come learn the latest information from a panel of experts from the fields of public health, wildlife biology, academic research, and veterinary medicine. Our panelists in Lunenburg will be Dr. Catherine Brown, MA Dept. of Public Health; Dr. Stephen Rich, UMass Amherst Dept. of Microbiology; and Dr. Kathy Trenholm, DVM, Ayer Animal Medical Center. Their presentations will cover the life cycle of local ticks, local tick-borne diseases, disease transmission and symptoms in humans and pets, best practices to avoid tick bites, as well as efforts to control tick populations. There will also be a time for audience questions to the panel. This is a rare opportunity to ask a group of experts questions specific to our region.
Dr. Catherine Brown is the State Public Health Veterinarian at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, a position she has held since 2006. Following 8 years of clinical practice in wildlife medicine, she was awarded a Fellowship sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention. In her current position she oversees surveillance and educational outreach on all zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Dr. Brown was a member of the state Commission that wrote: "Lyme Disease in Massachusetts: A Report Issued by the Special Commission to Conduct an Investigation and Study of the Incidence and Impacts of Lyme Disease" (February 28, 2013). Dr. Stephen Rich, is a professor in the Department of Microbiology at UMass Amherst. His field of research is zoonotic diseases, which are those that originate and/or maintained in natural animal populations, but which occasionally spill over into human populations. He has had a focused study on Lyme disease, as well as on other emerging tick-borne diseases such as Anaplasma, Babesia, and Bartonella. Dr. Kathy Trenholm, DVM, is the owner of the Ayer Animal Medical Center where she has been a small animal practitioner for 27 years. She received her DVM from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and her Masters Degree in Pathobiology from the University of Connecticut.
Unable to attend on June 2nd? There will be two additional "Tick Talk" panel presentations, attend the program that fits your schedule:
- Tuesday, June 9, 7:00 p.m. at the Pepperell Public Library with Dr. Catherine Brown, MA Dept. of Public Health; Dr. Barbara Roth-Schecter, Dover Board of Health & Lyme Disease Committee; Dr. Brad Smith, DVM, Pepperell Veterinary Hospital. See program details.
- Tuesday, June 23, 7:00 p.m. at the Harvard Public Library with Dr. Barbara Roth-Schecter, Dover Board of Health & Lyme Disease Committee; David Stainbrook, Mass Wildlife Deer Project Leader; Dr. Dr. Michelle Bianco, DVM, Mid-State Mobile Veterinary Clinic. See program details.
The NRWA's "Tick Talk" series is free and open to the public, made possible by a grant from the Nashoba Valley Community Healthcare Fund, managed by the Community Foundation of North Central Massachusetts and the Greater Lowell Community Foundation. Pre-registration is requested for planning purposes. To pre-register, or for more information, please contact Al Futterman, NRWA Land Programs Director, at (978) 448-0299, or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please specify the date and location of the program you wish to attend.
We hope you'll join us to learn about tick bite risk management. We want to encourage everyone to get outdoors safely and connect with their local landscapes for their own well-being and that of the environment.
