‘Very high’ quantity of invasive ticks found in Fairfield, New Haven counties, doctors say
Dr. Goudarz Molaei has good news and bad news when it comes to tick activity in Connecticut.
Despite an early start to tick season, Molaei, research scientist and director of the tick surveillance program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, said the state is seeing “typical tick activity” so far this year.
About 1,443 ticks were submitted to the state for testing between January and last week, Molaei said. “I would say that was about average,” he said.
The bad news is some areas of the state, including Fairfield and New Haven counties, are seeing a higher number of some invasive tick species.
Molaei said there are at least three invasive tick species in Connecticut — the Asian longhorned tick, the Gulf Coast tick and the lone star tick. In many communities in Fairfield and New Haven counties, the population of these ticks is “very, very high,” Molaei said.
“People who live in these areas are at a greater risk of encountering ticks,” he said. “We have an extremely high number.”
This is especially true of most communities in Fairfield County, Molaei said, including Bridgeport, Stratford and Westport. He said, when doing tick surveillance in some of these towns “it takes maybe less than an hour for us to collect over 800 ticks.”
But, he said, it’s unclear whether the high numbers of invasive ticks will lead to more cases of tick-borne diseases, such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. Molaei said the lone star tick and Gulf Coast tick do not transmit the disease agents responsible for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis, and “it is not clear yet if the Asian longhorned tick can transmit these three disease agents.”
Still, he said, all of these illnesses are spread by the deer tick, and remain a cause for concern, even in an “average” tick season.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borne disease in the United States. Its main symptoms are a red, ringlike rash (often called a “bull’s-eye” rash), and flulike symptoms, such as headaches, body aches and fever.
One of the rarer tickborne diseases is Powassan virus, which often goes undetected. The first Powassan virus case of the season in Connecticut was found in early May in a Windham County man. Molaei said the three invasive tick species aren’t linked to Powassan virus, either.
Most experts said it’s unknown how prevalent tick-borne illnesses will be this season. Connecticut Department of Public Health spokesman Christopher Boyle said, according to the department’s infectious disease specialists “it is too early in the season to draw any conclusion on whether tick related illness has been higher than average this year.”
Dr. Asha Shah, director of infectious disease at Stamford Hospital, agreed, saying that she doesn’t usually see a significant number of tickborne illnesses until July or August. Dr. Rich Greiner, associate chairman of the emergency department at Bridgeport Hospital’s Bridgeport and Milford campuses, also reported little activity thus far.
“We’re not seeing a whole lot [of illnesses] yet this year,” Greiner said, though he knows that the ticks are out there. He said, three or
four weeks ago, he was taking a shower and noticed a tick come off of him.
To reduce the chance of infection with a tick-borne disease, experts suggest people check themselves and their family members for ticks after being outside, particularly after spending time in wooded areas and places with high grass.