Nov 3, 2025 By Paul Paterra 4 min read

Before June 2024, Sandy Mansmann said she could multitask with ease and remember everything. Then she was bitten by a blacklegged tick.

Now, the 84-year-old Nottingham Township woman said she lives with fatigue, achy joints and brain fog.

Mansmann is one of thousands of Pennsylvanians who have been diagnosed with Lyme disease, an infection caused by a tick bite.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania has led the nation in Lyme disease cases for 11 of the last 12 years, accounting for 30% of all reported infections in the United States during that time.

Emily Struckhoff, extension program specialist at Penn State University, said this is a result of the high population of blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks, in the state.

“We have a lot of really good habitat for ticks,” she said. “(They) love forest areas, areas with a lot of tree cover, brushes, and shrubs.”

Mansmann lives right across from Mingo Creek County Park and deer regularly come through the 15 acres worth of trees in her yard.

“It’s a breeding ground (for ticks),” she said.

Struckhoff said people typically have no idea a tick has attached itself because its bite is imperceptible and its size – about two-tenths of an inch – can be too. Once it’s attached, a tick can remain for about a week, feeding on blood and growing bigger until it falls off.

After Mansmann’s infection started, she found herself in bed for two days, cold and exhausted.

“I couldn’t even get up to get a thermometer, but I knew I had a fever,” she said.

A doctor diagnosed her as having Lyme disease about one month later. She was prescribed a course of drugs to help curtail the infection and remains on three medications to help manage her lingering symptoms.

A lover of the outdoors, Mansmann has become vigilant when she comes inside, checking herself for disease-transmitting ticks. The drought, she said, lessened the number of them, though there were still baby ticks, which are called nymphs.

DeAnna Martin, director of Washington Park, said she’d received complaints about ticks near the park’s baseball field. They, too, were nymphs.

Martin said they were “almost translucent” because they had not yet fed on blood.

The city hired a landscaping company to treat the baseball and softball fields, and the dog park.

“Unfortunately, it’s not something that’s ever going to completely go away, but we’re going to try to mitigate it to the best of our ability,” Martin said.

There are a number of things people can do to lessen their chances of being bitten.

“The first thing is to be aware of when and where you might find ticks,” Struckhoff said.

Ticks are most prevalent in the fall and late spring, most typically in woody areas or grassy fields.

Other precautions can also lessen your risk, including wearing long pants, sleeves and socks (“If ticks can’t get onto your skin, they can’t bite you,” Struckhoff said.); wearing lighter colored clothing to more easily see a tick that’s latched on to clothing; and using repellants like Deet or treating clothes with the insecticide permethrin.

Mansmann now holds public meetings to raise awareness about the symptoms of Lyme disease and how it occurs, with one scheduled for this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Citizens Library in Washington.

She loves to be outside, but finds herself frustrated because she can’t always do that because there is too much risk.

That awareness is important, said Struckhoff.

“We absolutely want people to continue going out and enjoying the outdoors,” she said. “Just be aware that ticks may be out there, know what steps can be taken to prevent bites and what to do if you are bit. That can give you some peace of mind.”