Two cases of Lyme disease reported in Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KAIT) - For the first time in ten years, the Arkansas Department of Health reports someone has been diagnosed with Lyme disease.

The ADH announced Thursday two cases of the tickborne disease had been diagnosed.

It is the first time since 2007 that a case in the Natural State has met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's surveillance definition.

Arkansas is considered a low-incidence state and is one of 31 states where the incidence of Lyme disease has been less than 1 in 100,000 people between 2005-2014, according to the ADH.

"Recognizing these two cases is consistent with Arkansas's designation as a low-incidence state for Lyme disease," said Dirk Haselow, state epidemiologist at ADH. "We know that Lyme is rare here, and we encourage doctors and patients to consider other diagnoses first."

The ADH did not identify in which counties the two cases were reported.

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