From the Los Angeles Times:

Wednesday, March 31, 1999 

Ticks Carrying Lyme Disease Found in Parks 

Health: Officials identify insects near trails in Tapia and 
Malibu Creek areas of the Santa Monica Mountains. 
By IRENE GARCIA, Times Staff Writer

ALABASAS--Ticks carrying Lyme disease have been found in
Tapia Park and adjacent Malibu Creek State Park, Los Angeles
County health officials reported Tuesday. 
The first confirmed Lyme disease-bearing tick in Los Angeles County
was found last year in Topanga State Park, which, like Malibu Creek and
Tapia, is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. 
"We found 37 male and 28 female ticks in that area, and they were
divided into seven pools of eight to 10," said Dr. Roshan Reporter of 
the Los Angeles Department of Health Services acute communicable disease
control unit. "Two of the pools were positive for Lyme disease." 
That means at least two, possibly more, ticks carried the disease that
is transmitted to humans and animals through bites. 
The ticks were found in low brush and grass along several trails of the
7,000-acre Malibu Creek State Park and the nearly mile-long Tapia Spur
Trail in nearby Tapia Park. That trail leads into a Malibu Creek
campground. 
Only the western black-legged tick carries Lyme disease, which
Reporter said can be treated with antibiotics. 
Symptoms include spreading rash, fever and body aches that if
untreated, Reporter said, may develop into long-term illness with
complications such as arthritis, irregular heart beat or neurological
symptoms. 
 * * *
Health officials said ticks carrying Lyme disease are rarely found in
Southern California. 
"We don't have as many ticks here as in Northern California, because
it's a lot drier here," Reporter said. "We really haven't seen much Lyme
disease here." 
Still, she cautions those hiking in local areas surrounded by brush to
regularly conduct tick checks. 
Additional information and brochures on ticks can be obtained by
calling the acute communicable disease control unit at (213) 240-7941. 

 * * *

Vector control officials recommend the following precautions to
avoid contact with ticks: 
* Wear long, light-colored clothes so ticks can be spotted easily.
Tuck pant legs into socks or boots and tuck shirttails into pants. 
* Use tick repellent spray such as DEET or permethrin on the outside
of clothes. 
* When walking on trails, stay in the center to avoid brush and tall
grass. 
* Remove clothes after outdoor activities and inspect your body
carefully for ticks. Checks pets as well. 
* Carefully remove any attached ticks by grasping them as close to
your skin as possible and pulling them with slow, steady force. 
For more information, call the Los Angeles County West Vector
Control District at (310) 915-7370, or the Vector Management Program
at (323) 881-4046. 
SOURCE: Vector Management Program 

Ticks Carrying Lyme Disease Found in Parks
[Note:  Link not available as of 2 March 2000]
http://www.latimes.com/CNS_DAYS/990331/t000028654.html

-----