Notes from the Field: Four Cases of Lyme Disease at an Outdoor Wilderness Camp — North Carolina 2017 and 2019

摘要

On June 10, 2019, the North Carolina Division of Public Health was notified by the Buncombe County Health Department of three cases of Lyme disease among children aged 6–8 years. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by the bite of an tick that is infected most commonly with the bacterium . An investigation conducted by Buncombe County communicable disease nurses determined that all three children were homeschooled and had attended a local, year-round, outdoor wilderness day camp. Each child had attended the camp at least 1 day a week over the course of the previous fall and spring. The camp site for the wilderness program is completely outdoors, with a canopy of hardwood forest providing much of the shelter. Further investigation identified an earlier camp participant who had received a diagnosis of Lyme disease in 2017 ( ).