What has been described as ingenious system to reduce the prevalence of ticks that carry Lyme disease in Killarney National Park has been proposed.
Cllr Michael Cahill briefed a meeting of Kerry County Council on the effectiveness of a scheme introduced in the Scottish Moors whereby sheep, having been regularly dipped to eradicate the ticks that carry the disease, were allowed to graze there.
It helped reduce the spread of the dangerous ticks to humans, he maintained.
“These sheep mops – as they are known – could be used in Killarney National Park as a method of preventing this horrible, debilitating disease.
“I believe it could be a very simple, cost effective project to introduce and apparently it has been an amazing success on the Scottish Moors,” he said.
Cllr Cahill said Dr John Lambert, who is an expert in the area of Lyme disease in Ireland, informed him that many GP’s are not aware or informed of the symptoms of the condition and the HSE does not keep records of those infected.
“Dr Lambert said that the figure may be as high as 2,500 affected every year but we don’t know. Testing is not perfect and there is not a good understanding of it”.
He said the doctor stressed that prevention and early intervention is critical and that ‘Beware of Ticks’ signs should be erected in all parks and areas where deer are present.
Cllr Cahill said one Lyme disease survivor he knows recalled a time when there were 3,000 sheep in the national park and it could be a very simple, cost effective project to introduce.
He proposed that the Minister for Agriculture be asked to urgently investigate the effectiveness of a scheme introduced in the Scottish Moors and he called on the HSE to introduce testing and treatment at University Hospital Kerry as the numbers of cases are continuing to rise.
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