Examining the close ties between some animal and human diseases.

I’ve always associated the name “Bayer” with “Bayer aspirin.” Turns out, Bayer aspirin is only a tiny part of the picture. In fact, Bayer is a huge international company that manufactures a wide variety of pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural and high-tech products.

One of its divisions is Bayer Animal Health, which produces and distributes about 100 different products for both farm and companion animals worldwide. Last February, Bayer Animal Health launched a new social media strategy, focusing on animal health, with postings on Blogger, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

I’m happy to see that their postings aren’t just geared towards advertising their products. The company seems willing to look at hard issues related to animals and people, such as the topic of zoonotic diseases–those that can jump from infected animals to humans. (Lyme disease is zoonotic. After a tick picks up the disease by feeding on an infected mouse, for instance, it then can transfer it to a person.)

Over the past month, the Bayer Animal Health blog has introduced the topic of Lyme disease by featuring articles from LymeDisease.org Executive Director Lorraine Johnson and Dr. Raphael Stricker (on the board of both LymeDisease.org and ILADS.)

http://bayer4animals.blogspot.de/2014/05/a-manhattan-project-for-lyme-disease.html

http://bayer4animals.blogspot.de/2014/06/part-1-battle-for-chronic-lyme-disease.html

http://bayer4animals.blogspot.de/2014/06/part-2-battle-for-chronic-lyme-disease.html

Lyme disease should be of concern to anyone who cares about animals and people.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s VP for Education and Outreach. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org .