Ticks,
Lyme Disease Remain a Concern in Winter
By TIM
FAULKNER/ecoRI.org News staff
 |
| URI tick specialist Thomas Mather handed out live deer ticks to senators at a Jan. 22 Statehouse hearing. |
In fact, after a recent warm spell in early January Mather found dozens of ticks at one of his test sites.
If you look at one of his maps of the country, Rhode Island is at the heart of deer tick density, and it’s getting worse, he said. Last year was a record year for deer ticks in Rhode Island, and 2012 set the previous record. “The problem is there’s more ticks in more places than ever before,” Mather said.
The
causes of this tick population outbreak and spread of Lyme disease are not
fully known, but a combination of climate, deer population growth and
development of rural land are the prime suspects, according to James McDonald,
chief administrative officer at the Rhode Island Department of Health (DOH).
Mather, who runs the Tick Encounter Resource Center at the University of Rhode Island, McDonald and the state Department of Environmental Management (DEM) held the workshop to publicize information about deer ticks and Lyme disease, as well as explain efforts to cull deer populations.
Older
ticks prefer to live on deer. Deer, therefore, tend to be the most common host
for breeding deer ticks, especially when ticks are at their highest stage of
transmitting Lyme disease.
The
state has some 15,000 deer. Last year, Block Island expanded deer hunting
season in order to reduce habitat damage and the spread of Lyme disease. Block
Island has experienced some of the most dramatic deer population growth and has
about 100 deer per square mile. Jamestown also is considering expanded hunting
to reduce deer.
More
research is needed to know the benefits of culling deer to control Lyme
disease, said Janet Coit, director of DEM, the agency that oversees hunting in
the state.
“We know
that if you reduce the population of deer, you’ll reduce the population of
ticks,” Coit said. “But we really don’t know for sure about the relationship
for reducing the deer populations and reducing the incidence of disease.”
Mice,
birds and chipmunks also are hosts for deer ticks.
According
to the DOH, about 800 new cases are reported annually. However, for every known case
there are nine unidentified cases. The number of new cases across the country
has been stable in recent years, McDonald said, while the problem has
intensified in areas where the deer population has grown.
Lyme
disease can be transmitted within 24 to 36 hour after a bite from an infected
tick.
Symptoms can occur up to six weeks after a tick bite. Symptoms include
arthritis in large joints like shoulders and knees, severe headaches, memory loss, sleep disturbance, fatigue,depression and heart
problems.
For most
people, Lyme disease is easily diagnosed and treated within weeks through
antibiotics. But, 10 percent to 20 percent of people may have symptoms lasting
months or years.
There is
no vaccine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine Lymerix
in 1998. According to medical reports, the drug required several follow-ups as
well as annual doses, while the efficacy measured 80 percent. Controversy
created by side effects resulted in low sales and the drugmaker withdrew
Lymerix from the market in 2001. Newer vaccines are being researched.
The
disease is perhaps hundreds of years old, but the first cluster of the disease
was identified in Lyme, Conn., in 1977. Cases have been concentrated in the
Northeast ever since.
All of
the hearing's speakers urged lawmakers to pursue a regional approach to
addressing Lyme disease. Both Mather and McDonald also suggested simple
prevention steps, such as regular body inspections and wearing clothing treated
with tick repellent.
“But
quite frankly it’s the easy things we’re not very good at doing,” McDonald
said.
Both
recommend following prevention tips on the Tick Encounter website.