Tick Bite Prevention Program for the Nation’s Summer Camps
Greenwich, Conn (March 3, 2017) – Global Lyme Alliance (GLA), the leading private nonprofit dedicated to conquering Lyme and tick-borne diseases through research and education, today announced its educational partnership with Ivy Oaks Analytics (IOA). Using a range of innovative and natural solutions, IOA improves safety at children’s summer camps, by reducing the presence of ticks, mosquitoes and poison ivy. The GLA-IOA “Tick Bite Prevention Program” plays an important role in protecting participating camps and their campers from ticks and tick-borne illnesses, like Lyme disease. Of the more than 330,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. each year, children aged 3–14 are at the greatest risk. With no accurate diagnostic test, no standard of care, and no cure, proactive measures to prevent tick bites are critical. The GLA-IOA Program protects camps and their campers, through awareness and prevention. “The partnership offers an incredibly valuable service for any camp professional as they help manage tick and mosquito populations to extremely low numbers,” says Joel Rutkowski, Owner and Director of Indian Head Camp located in Wayne County, PA. He adds, “Their treatment significantly reduced the risk to our campers and staff making our camp a healthier and safer community.” The awareness component comes in the form of a Tick Prevention Curriculum and Tick Prevention Toolkits. The Curriculum, for camp owners and their staff, teaches about the risks and symptoms of tick-borne diseases, as well as key prevention tips. The toolkits, created by GLA, will include tick prevention tips, symptom checker, as well as tick -removal tools. The prevention component includes tick population measurements, ongoing tick population monitoring, landscape modification, treatment of host animals, natural control products and staff education. Camps which implement Ivy Oaks comprehensive program receive an advanced public health standards certification. Camps certified with Ivy Oaks will receive onsite signage with an IOA certification that will also display the GLA logo. IOA will include the GLA logo on their uniforms and signage. A complete list of IOA certified camps, including those in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, may be found at ivyoaksanalytics.com. About Global Lyme Alliance Global Lyme Alliance is the leading private nonprofit dedicated to conquering Lyme and other tick-borne diseases through research and education. GLA has gained national prominence for funding the most urgent and promising research in the field, while expanding education and awareness programs for the general public and physicians. Learn more at GLA.org About Ivy Oaks Analytics Ivy Oaks Analytics is a startup launched in 2016 to reduce the public health threat of ticks, mosquitoes, and poison ivy in summer camps. IOA’s client camps receive an advanced public health certification. Certified camps are listed on ivyoaksanalytics.com which also serves as the only database for parents seeking camps with protection against these threats.
