Lyme Disease Forum Set For May 3

Spring is here and so are the deer ticks that carry Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

The Newtown Rotary and the Newtown Lyme Disease Task Force are sponsoring their annual Lyme Disease Forum at the Fireside Inn on Monday, May 3, so that people in the community can learn about steps that can be taken to protect against ticks and also about the problems associated with diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will provide opening remarks. He was instrumental in the passage of the Lyme disease legislation of 1999. Earlier this year the attorney general, along with the State Department of Public Health, sponsored an all-day hearing addressing the concerns of Connecticut citizens about Lyme disease.

Guest speaker Richard Horowitz, MD, specializes in diagnosis and treatment of complicated Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses. He is an internist with 20 years experience in treating more than 4,000 cases of persistent Lyme disease.

Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association, will also discuss her experiences with Lyme disease.

There also will be printed information available about Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

Admission is free; the public is invited.

Connecticut is the most active state for Lyme disease and Newtown is one of the hot spots — one recent survey showed that approximately 40 percent of the families in northern Fairfield County towns such as Newtown families have been touched by Lyme disease.