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Ticks are flourishing in St. Lawrence County, Lyme disease rates likely higher than tracking shows

Posted 5/28/17

By MATT LINDSEY Ticks in St. Lawrence County are flourishing and have caused a drastic increase in Lyme disease infections in the past 15 years, and experts say the rate is almost certainly higher …

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Ticks are flourishing in St. Lawrence County, Lyme disease rates likely higher than tracking shows

Posted

By MATT LINDSEY

Ticks in St. Lawrence County are flourishing and have caused a drastic increase in Lyme disease infections in the past 15 years, and experts say the rate is almost certainly higher than reported.

Lyme disease can cause long-term fever, chills, sweats, muscle aches, fatigue, nausea and joint pain. Some patients experience a rash or facial drooping.

St. Lawrence County has a higher rate of Lyme disease than most of the country, according to Dr. Daniel Soule, an infectious disease specialist whose office is in Canton. He believes the increase may be due to a rise in the mouse population last fall, perhaps caused by recent mild North Country winters. Adult ticks feed on deer, but the nymphs, or “teenage ticks,” prefer to attach to mice where they become infected with Lyme disease.

Soule says he has two or three Lyme disease-related consults each week. “I have people telling me they are picking ticks off their dogs when there is still snow on the ground.”

While the rate of Lyme in the county has declined somewhat in the past three years, it increased from 0.9 cases per 100,000 population to 44.8 from 2002 to 2012, according to a study by Paul Smith’s College researchers.

The county Department Public Health reports the number of confirmed Lyme disease cases in 2016 was 74, down significantly from 267 in 2013 and 155 in 2014, but about the same level as the 78 cases reported in 2012.

Not All Cases Reported

Soule believes the actual number of infections is higher because patients who experience severe symptoms are often treated immediately but not necessarily tested.

“It would be a waste of money to send a test away when symptoms prove they have it,” he said, noting that Lyme disease tests are often “inappropriately ordered around the nation” leading to false-positive tests.

A false-positive test is a result that indicates that a given condition is present when it is not.

However, Soule says, “the testing is better than it gets credit for.”

Cornell Cooperative Extension horticulturalist and natural resources educator Paul Hetzler, who is based in Canton, said people are also telling him the tick population is up this year in their areas of the county. He is finding more on his two cats and one dog despite treatments.

“Tracking the number of Lyme disease cases is challenging,” says county Public Health Director James O. Rich. “Not everyone sees a bulls-eye rash” which is a common symptom of Lyme Diesase.

Rich also said that not all providers report if they see the rash, they often just treat the client.

“The blood work is also not the most reliable depending on when a person was infected,” Rich said.

“With that being said, we had a significant increase in reports in 2013 and 2014.”

Over 90 percent of confirmed Lyme disease cases are reported in the northeast, with New York state being labeled a “High Incidence State” by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

For more, visit the CDC website here.

‘Emergent Area’ for Ticks

The 2015 Paul Smith’s study named St. Lawrence County as an emergent area for Lyme disease. Paul Smith’s field researchers collected ticks by pulling cloths in the brush vegetation and discovered high-density areas are typically found at lower elevation sites, but blacklegged ticks can be found throughout the region.

Nearly half of the adult blacklegged ticks, and a quarter of the nymphs, that were collected in North Country counties tested positive for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

The report said human case data are currently reported at the county-level by the state DOH, however, the risk of acquiring Lyme or other tick-borne diseases may not be uniform across such a broad geographic area.

The study, conducted in October and November of 2015 on adult, host-seeking ticks, was the first systematic surveillance effort conducted in St. Lawrence County.

Reducing Tick Population

Keeping ticks out of yards, and off of people and pets is possible with preventative measures, experts say. Ticks live in shady, moist areas at ground level. They will cling to tall grass, brush and shrubs, usually no more than 18-24 inches off the ground. They also live in lawns and gardens, especially at the edges of woods and around old stone walls.

While tick bites can happen year-round, even on 40-plus degree days in the winter, both people and pets are especially susceptible from mid-May through July, when nymphs are out seeking a host. The young ticks are small and more difficult to spot.

Hetzler says researchers from downstate are finding an average of 150 deer ticks per mouse this year, a significant spike from previous years when the number was closer to 25.

He suggests waging war on mice to combat the tick population. One issue is that if you trap or poison a mouse, ticks will drop off and find another host. Hetzler suggests that giving mice new beds may be the most effective way to reduce tick populations around the home.

“When mice have access to permethrin-treated nest materials, tick mortality within that family is very high,” Hetzler said. “If one was to treat cotton balls, dryer lint, and fabric scraps with permethrin, and then stuff said items into cardboard tubes (toilet paper, etc.) and leave these around the property, mice and other rodents would eventually find and use the treated bedding.”

The only problem with this is that it is a violation of NY State’s pesticide laws.

“Using permethrin-soaked material placed within a tube to kill ticks on mice and other rodents is a violation of Environmental Conservation Law,” according to Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Public Information Office Benning DeLaMater. “Permethrin is extremely toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms. Contact with it can result in temporary numbness and tingling.”

However, there is one product on the market that homeowners can try. Damminix, it is a ready-to-go mouse-bed distribution system. Treated cotton balls are in tubes and are placed around homes, garages, sheds, woodpiles, and any other likely rodent hideout.

“Damminix is a registered general use product in New York and homeowners can use it on their own property,” DeLaMater said. “Certification is required for a commercial applicator to apply it.”

DEC staff who work in the woods are instructed about how to minimize exposure and reduce risks associated with ticks through DEC’s Office of Health and Safety, DeLaMater said “We supply tick preventative chemicals and clothing for our field staff plus copies of the most up-to-date literature and guides as they evolve.”

DEC staff work in the woods regularly, and anecdotally report that staff have contracted Lyme disease but nothing that notes a rise in cases, he said.

The state Department of Health recommends tips to help avoid contact include: avoiding direct contact with soil, leaf litter and vegetation; wear light-colored clothing, wear enclosed shoes, long pants and tuck pant legs into socks or boots and shirts into pants; check clothes and body several times and consider using insect repellant.