The Sullivan County Democrat reports: The minuscule insect will latch onto the young, the old, even the president. Since 1991 when Lyme became a nationally notifiable disease, Sullivan County has been keeping tabs on the numbers. According to Carol Ryan, head of Sullivan County Public Health Nursing, educating the public about Lyme disease is part of the department’s mission to ensure.
Efforts were stepped up three to four years ago when the county secured a grant from the state to launch the “Be Tick Free” program that’s made RN Kyle Henry a household name.
Henry travels the county touting the tick-free lifestyle, singing on the radio, spelling out the tips for tick safe zones and handing out small kits with tick identification guides and tweezers perfect for grasping the bug at its mouth and removing it from the body.
His efforts and those of his coworkers have made a real impact on the health of Sullivan County residents, Ryan said. The numbers are up – Lyme cases reported to public health have climbed from 16 per 10,000 residents in 2000 to 70 per 10,000 in 2005. The reason for the spike isn’t clear.
Heightened awareness is clear, Ryan said, but whether the increased diagnoses are due to an increase in actual cases or the number of people who are heading to the doctor is hard to determine. “When you look for something, you find it,” Ryan admitted. “But it’s also a fact that there is just more of it.” What is clear, Henry added, is that Lyme is on the move.
“Sullivan County is fully engulfed,” he noted.
The states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut still account for 75 percent of the cases in
Carried by the deer tick, Lyme is a bacteria transferred to humans when the tick latches on to human skin. That is the only means of transmission. Although not all deer ticks are infected, the small bugs have been scientifically proven to be the conduit spreading Lyme across the country. According to Henry, it’s at the nymph and adult stages of the tick’s two-year life cycle when they pose a threat.
In areas like Sullivan County, 25 percent of the nymphs have been found to be infected with the Lyme bacteria, and they’re at their peak during summer. About the size of a poppy seed, the nymphs are so small they often go unnoticed by their human hosts.
Sullivan County residents and visitors are prime hosts for ticks because they spend a great deal of time outdoors and around other tick victims, Ryan noted.
The term “deer tick” is a sort of misnomer, she explained.
Although they will latch onto a deer, the ticks are as likely to seek the family dog, a mouse or even a bird as its host. Once it bites, the tick will stay attached to feed on the blood of its victim.
That gives people time to act, Ryan said.
Sullivan County Public Health Nursing advocates a daily tick check – caught early, Lyme disease can be prevented as the tick has to feast for almost 36 hours to transmit the spirochete.
Ticks should be removed with tweezers and can be taken to Public Health’s office in Liberty for identification to determine whether the insect is a deer tick or some other relative.
Public Health also advocates wearing insect repellent to deter ticks and light clothing to allow for easy discovery of the dark-colored bugs.
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6 Responses
All doctors must be made aware of the physical description of the ticks. Many years ago my son got a deer tick. I called a doctor in the Catskills and when I described the “sesame” colored tic, was told that I have nothing to worry about because deer ticks are black. I then went to Dr. Bulmash who removed the tic, sent it into the Health Department and was told that it was indeed a deer tic. Boruch Hashem we went to another doctor who was familiar with tics.
They should send nurses down to all the bungalow colonies and camps to familiarize staff members and all responsible adults about Lyme disease and the way it is transmitted.
I was in Westchester and I removed a total of 10 ticks between my three kids in a span of two weeks! I learned to check them from head to toe every night. I sometimes needed a flashlight as the ticks were very small. I even had one crawling on my tweezer after I removed it. It is very important to be aware and to keep checking when in an infested area, especially when the kids played on the grass.
The best way to kill these ticks is with Boric Acid, The good exterminators use this, & i know this from experience. It’s very cheap to buy this at any convenient store (99 cents stores sells them) it’s a white powder has no smell and it’s not dangerous to crawling infants. You have to pour some Boric acid along side all the inner walls of your house. If you have carpet in your house you will have to apply the boric acid on the carpet and sweep it into the carpet with a broom. Leave the boric acid sitting in the carpet for 5 to 7 days. All the ticks will be dead by than. Boric acid is especially usefull for roaches ants waterbugs & silverfish. Try it and you’ll thank me you did.
I agree with # 4, Boric Acid Works
Boric Acid is good for roaches but I don’t see how it would help the tick problem. Ticks are mostly outdoors, especially in tall grass. You would need to put boric acid over all the grounds outdoors, which isn’t very possible. (Of course if you have ticks in your house, then it is a good idea).