2005: Lyme disease group's future is under cloud- Director's death leaves big void!!!
- From: "CaliforniaLyme" <CaliforniaLyme@xxxxxx>
- Date: 14 Jun 2005 07:55:11 -0700
Yay*)!*)!*! Yes*)!*! I am happy here, and it has NOTHING to do with him
DYING it has to do with this position being vacant and the chance for a
change!!!!! I would have been just as glad if he had stpepped down and
this article were run about that*)!*)!
***************************************************************
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Lyme disease group's future is under cloud
Director's death leaves big void
By Elizabeth Lynch
Poughkeepsie Journal
Journal News
A longtime advocate in the fight to prevent the spread of ticks and
Lyme disease has died, leaving the future of the organization he headed
uncertain.
David Weld, 66, executive director the American Lyme Disease Foundation
based in Somers, Westchester County, died last week. He had served as
the head of the foundation since 1990 and was a founding member in
1987.
"My impression was he really was the foundation," said Rick Ostfeld, an
ecologist at the Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook. Ostfeld
worked with Weld for three years on a program to reduce Lyme disease in
Dutchess County. Weld was "was the idea person, he was the fundraiser,
he was the mover and shaker, he was the brains in the project," Ostfeld
said.
The foundation's board of directors is committed to continuing the Web
site and current programs at least through this season, foundation
board member James Handelman said.
"We are committed to keeping the foundation going ... because the value
of the information that it provides, as well as the Web site, are valid
reasons for keeping that in existence," Handelman said. "I do not know
if David Weld will be replaced. This was such a shock and so sudden."
Weld, a biologist, lived in Pound Ridge in Westchester. He died June 5
of cancer.
Weld will be missed in the fight against Lyme, said even those who
disagreed with his beliefs.
Disease views vary
The foundation has held a conservative view about Lyme disease and
maintained the disease was easily diagnosed, treated and cured. Other
groups believe the disease is very difficult to diagnose and can
produce some strange side-effects.
The differences made it difficult for some groups to work with Weld.
"Certainly we mourn his passing .... and we hope we can all work
together and move forward," said Tom Forschner, executive director of
the Connecticut-based Lyme Disease Foundation.
Weld, said Forschner, "was our local opposition. We did have a
difference of opinion."
But Forschner called Weld "honorable" and said the two organizations'
opposing viewpoints helped highlight how difficult it can be to
diagnose and treat Lyme.
Jill Auerbach, chairwoman of the Hudson Valley Lyme Disease
Association, said she often was at odds with Weld but they agreed on
one thing - ticks are at the root of the problem and need to be
controlled.
"I considered him a friend. We respected each other for our opinions,
while we knew they were different," she said.
Dr. Gary Wormser, chief of infectious disease at Westchester Medical
Center and New York Medical College, said Weld's conservative viewpoint
will be missed.
He said Weld acted as a counter-balance to some of the misinformation
being spread about Lyme.
"He represented a viewpoint that was extremely rational," Wormser said.
Treatment station developed
Pat Smith, president of the New Jersey-based Lyme Disease Association,
pointed out Weld and the foundation focused on prevention and developed
the 4-poster Deer Treatment Bait Station. The unit was designed to kill
ticks that feed on deer and prevent them from being spread. The station
cannot be used in New York.
She said she hoped Weld's successor will continue those efforts.
"Nobody else was really involved in prevention," Smith said.
Dr. Michael Caldwell, Dutchess County's health commissioner, said he
worked with Weld on a Lyme prevention grant.
"He really was a strong and constant voice in the fight against Lyme
disease," he said. "He was especially concerned with assuring we all
could enjoy the outdoors" without the threat of Lyme disease.
Weld created a pocket-sized card to help people identify ticks, created
traveling exhibits and other educational materials, Ostfeld said.
"He was ... very progressive about trying to target groups that were
high risk but often neglected" such as landscapers and those with
darker skin on who it may be difficult noticing a tick or the classic
bulls-eye rash.
"I admired him and liked him personally," Ostfeld said.
.
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