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State Senate approves bill supporting tick-borne disease efforts, North Country senator says

Posted 6/20/18

The state Senate has approved a legislative resolution detailing funding in support of numerous efforts around New York State to combat Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, according to Senator Betty …

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State Senate approves bill supporting tick-borne disease efforts, North Country senator says

Posted

The state Senate has approved a legislative resolution detailing funding in support of numerous efforts around New York State to combat Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, according to Senator Betty Little.

St. Lawrence County has seen a massive increase in the number of ticks and cases of Lyme disease over the past decade.

The Senate’s Task Force on Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases, of which Little is a member, is directing $1 million in funding that had been included in the 2018-19 State Budget to increase education, research, prevention, and treatment options.

The resolution awards SUNY Adirondack $100,000 for laboratory research on lesser-known tick-borne diseases (TBDs), including infectious diseases known to be comorbid with Lyme disease, such as Babesia, Bartonella, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Powassan virus. The work will help provide much needed information about the rates of these coinfections in people with Lyme disease in New York.

Paul Smith’s College will receive $30,000 in support of their ongoing study of the emergence of TBDs in the North Country by continuing and expanding academic studies that monitor ticks and TBDs.

In St. Lawrence County, Little’s district includes Parishville, Clare, Colton, Hopkinton and Piercefield.