FAIRVIEW TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A little bug is causing big trouble in wooded areas and personal properties throughout northeastern and central Pennsylvania. This insect is proving to be a pest to more than just trees. It’s also sending some people to the doctor’s office.
Wendy Brakvatne can’t seem to get rid of something small that’s causing so much trouble lately in much of the Mountain Top region. “They’ve been covering our siding. They’ve been really eating our Pin Oaks and destroying them.”
She’s talking about those dreaded gypsy moth caterpillars. Besides decimating tree upon tree, the pencil tip-long insect is causing problems for some people who come in contact with them. “I mean they’re everywhere and I didn’t know they could cause, like, a rash,” said Ms. Brakvatne.
Her mother, Anne Laudeman, didn’t, either until a recent close encounter with the pests on their property. “They’d fall and your brushing them off your arm and then I was very itchy.”
So just what does the rash look like caused by the gypsy moth caterpillar? I found out first hand, the hard way. Still baring the blister-like blotches I developed from my encounter nearly two weeks earlier, the skin irritation doesn’t come from a bite. “Well, most people don’t know what had happened. They’ll come in with a rash,” said MedExpress Physician Kwaku Boakye, MD.
Dr. Boakye says it’s the hairs of the insect which contain histamine that trigger symptoms which begin within hours of exposure and can last up to two weeks. Minor cases, he says, can be treated at home. “Over the counter treatments. Hydrocortisone cream, antihistamines, the baking soda with water mixture.”
Dr. Boakye recommends seeing a doctor for any major blistering. And if you’re going to be outdoors, consider covering up. Ms. Laudeman said, “You have to protect yourself because it’s terrible.”
Some good news from the Luzerne Conservation District. The gypsy moth caterpillars hatched in warm weather in late April but since then, it’s been cooler and often wet. That should limit the gypsy moth population and the toll they’re taking on trees and people.
