Galesburg Reporter

State Representative Dan Swanson urged his constituents to be vigilant about ticks, advising them to treat their clothes with Permethrin and their skin with a repellent when engaging in outdoor activities such as hunting, hiking, or fishing. He made this statement in a Facebook post on November 1.

"Protect yourself from these dangerous ticks," said Swanson, according to Facebook. "If going hunting, hiking, fishing or other outdoor activities treat your clothes with Permethrin and your skin with a Seattle repellent. Deer hunters be mindful, if you process your deer yourself, the deer is most likely covered with ticks. As the carcass cools the ticks will fall off and search for a new host."

According to Swanson's Facebook post, he shared a link to a Farm Week Now article that highlighted the Tickborne Disease Conference in Champaign. The article also featured Aledo resident Lauryn Russell, who had firsthand experience with Lyme Disease after contracting it from a tick bite in 2012. FarmWeekNow reported that Russell was only a first grader when she became so ill from the bite that she sometimes couldn't walk home from the school bus. Her mother sought treatment for her, and Russell has been in remission since 2016.

Screenshot of Rep. Dan Swanson's Nov. 1 Facebook post | State Representative Dan Swanson's Facebook page

The Lauryn Russell Lyme Disease Prevention and Protection Act was enacted in 2018. This legislation allows doctors to use experimental treatments for Lyme Disease under specific conditions. It also mandated the Illinois Department of Public Health to establish programs for Lyme Disease prevention, detection, and outreach, support a vector-borne disease epidemiologist coordinator, and create a Lyme Disease Task Force. Swanson filed the bill on February 2, 2018, and it was signed into law on November 30, 2018, taking effect on January 1, 2019.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) state that symptoms of Lyme Disease can appear between three to thirty days after being bitten by a tick. They advise individuals experiencing symptoms such as fever, chills, headache, rash, muscle and joint aches to seek medical attention. The Erythema migrans (EM) rash typically starts at the site of the bite within this timeframe and can expand significantly without necessarily forming the classic bulls-eye pattern. Later symptoms may include severe headaches and neck stiffness, shooting pains or numbness in extremities, nerve pain, dizziness, and inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.

Swanson has served in the Illinois General Assembly since 2017. His background includes service as a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard with multiple active duty recalls. He also held roles as superintendent of the Henry County Veterans Assistance Commission and served on both the AlWood Board of Education and Henry County Board.