TAKING HEED TO AVOID TICKS
Officials agree on steps to combat illnesses such as Lyme disease
Whether the number of ticks will be more plentiful this year across the Hudson Valley, experts agree people need to take precautions to avoid being bit by the pests that can carry illnesses such as Lyme disease.
“You should always be careful, but it could be more dangerous this year than usual,” said Richard Ostfeld, a disease ecologist for the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook.
Ostfeld said the predicted increase in blacklegged ticks and tick-borne disease came from work done at the Cary Institute, along with his wife and collaborator Felicia Keesing, a Bard College professor. He said they documented during the summer of 2016 the largest population of white-footed mice in the Hudson Valley in 25 years.
That finding is important because the mice host the larval stage of black-legged ticks, Ostfeld said. He added that, when the ticks hatch, they are disease-free and are not carriers of illnesses such as Lyme disease, babesiosis and anaplasmosis.
“The baby ticks don’t have any of those,” Ostfeld said. He said the main place the ticks get those diseases is from feeding off their mouse hosts. So, the more mice there are, the more these larval ticks will feed on them, and grow into infected nymph-stage ticks, Ostfeld said. He said it takes almost a year between the larval tick stage and the nymph one.
The nymph ticks emerge in the months of May, June and July, Ostfeld added.
Ostfeld said one of the best ways people can protect themselves is by using a permethrin-based repellent on their clothing. He said the permethrin kills ticks that crawl on treated clothes and shoes. Ostfeld added that the nymph ticks are found on the ground and on low vegetation, so it is particularly important to treat shoes and socks with the repellent.
Once a tick gets on its host, it can crawl around for hours and tend to travel upwards, a lot of time without detection, he said.
“It’s kind of creepy, but it’s true,” Ostfeld said.
Bryon Backenson, a research scientist from the state Department of Health, said the most important thing is for people to take precautions, regardless of how abundant ticks might be.
“What’s important now is tick season is upon us,” Backenson said. He said whether a person gets one bite or 20, they still have the potential
Backenson added that if people use the same set of clothing each time they do yard work or gardening, they should put those clothes in a hot dryer for 10 minutes to kill any ticks in between washings.
to contract a tickborne illness.
And Ostfeld said a single tick could potentially carry more than one illness.
Backenson said the Department of Health has a video on its website that details the proper way to remove a tick that has become attached. He added that there are a lot of gadgets sold to remove ticks, but the department still believes fine point tweezers work best in all cases.
The Health Department’s website at www. health.ny.gov/tickfree also provides information on protecting against ticks and tickborne illness. That includes wearing light-colored clothing with a tight weave to spot ticks easily, as well as wearing enclosed shoes. Tuck pant legs into socks or boots, and shirts into pants. Additionally, the site recommends performing a fullbody check for ticks and taking a bath or shower as soon as possible after going indoors.
Backenson added that if people use the same set of clothing each time they do yard work or gardening, they should put those clothes in a hot dryer for 10 minutes to kill any ticks in between washings.
The Health Department website also provides information about the possible illnesses ticks can carry.
Ostfeld said persons experiencing flu-like symptoms during tick season should contact their doctor. Those symptoms include fevers and chills, headache, muscle aches and lethargy, he said. Ostfeld said those symptoms could indicate a tick-borne illness.
Laura Goodman, a senior research associate at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine’s New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center, said in a statement that there are many different species of ticks. She said not all ticks transmit all diseases and identifying the tick will determine what tests are appropriate.
“Over the past several years, we’ve seen a relatively steady number of tick-borne diseases in the Mid-Hudson Valley,” Backenson said. He said the numbers may have gone down a bit, though 2012 was the year with the lowest number of diseases reported.
Backenson said ticks tend to be active any time the temperature is above 40 degrees, and they tend to like a warm, sunny day that does not have a lot of wind. Ticks are susceptible to drying out and do not tolerate windy or cold days, he said.
Ostfeld added that, whether a winter is mild or not does not seem to affect the number of ticks each year.
“We do not find evidence of winter weather influencing how many nymph-stage ticks there are the next spring,” Ostfeld said. He said it is more about the mice population, which was plentiful in 2016 because there was a large acorn crop in 2015 in the Hudson Valley.
Ostfeld added, though, that tick populations could differ in other areas.