More ticks could mean more Lyme disease


Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by the blacklegged tick. The disease occurs in three stages, depending on how far the infection has spread in the body. In the early stages, antibiotic treatment usually cures the infection. Without treatment, infection may spread to the brain, heart and joints.

Stage 1 symptoms occur days to weeks after the initial tick bite and include:

  • Body-wide itching
  • Chills
  • Fever
  • General ill-feeling
  • Headache
  • Light-headedness or fainting
  • Muscle pain
  • Stiff neck
  • A "bull's eye" rash, a flat or slightly raised red spot at the site of the tick bite. Often there is a clear area in the center. It can be quite large and expanding in size.

Stage 2 symptoms, which can occur weeks to months after the initial tick bite, include:

  • Paralysis or weakness in the muscles of the face
  • Muscle pain and pain or swelling in the knees and other large joints
  • Heart problems, such as skipped heartbeats (palpitations)

Stage 3 symptoms, which can occur months to years after the initial infection, include:

  • Abnormal muscle movement
  • Muscle weakness
  • Numbness and tingling
  • Speech problems

SOURCE: National Institutes of Health

More blacklegged or “deer” ticks in Ohio’s forests could lead to more Lyme disease and other infections in humans, state health officials warn.

The state has seen a “dramatic increase” in the ticks’ numbers in the last few years, said Richard Gary, state entomologist for the Ohio Department of Health.

The ticks can carry Lyme disease, as well as the bacterial infection anaplasmosis and the parasite babesiosis.

This year, two Lyme infections have been confirmed in Greene County, and one in Warren County. Statewide, 46 cases of the bacterial infection have been reported, according to ODH.

In 2011, 53 Lyme infections were reported statewide.

Most of the “established” populations are in 26 counties east of Interstate 71, but the ticks have been found in Butler, Champaign, Hamilton and Warren counties. State data shows no ticks have been identified in Clark, Greene, Miami and Montgomery counties.

Between 1989 and 2008, only 35 blacklegged ticks were logged within the state, but in the last few years, the population has steadily increased. In 2011, 2,014 blacklegged ticks were collected.

“A couple of years ago, they were only in a couple counties,” said Vicki Ervin, communications manager for the Division of Wildlife. “Now they’re in 26 counties, so that’s something to be aware of.”

Health and wildlife officials are asking hunters and others who spend time outdoors to protect themselves and their animals against the ticks. Protective clothing, which can be sprayed with repellent contenting permethrin, helps, Ervin said. So does checking regularly for the ticks, which “can look like a speck of dirt,” she said. “But if it moves, it’s not dirt.”

Local health departments can mail ticks in to the state for identification, but most residents do just fine with photos and brochures, said Brian Williamson, director of environmental services with the Butler County Health Department. He said he gets two or three calls a week from people with questions about Lyme disease.

It usually takes an infected tick between 36 and 48 hours to transmit Lyme disease to a person or dog, said Glen Needham, an associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University and an entomologist with the OSU Extension Service.

“The unknown issue is what percentage of the ticks are infected,” he said. “And we don’t know.”

A study by veterinarians at OSU in 2010 found that less than 15 percent of the ticks collected and sampled were infected with Lyme disease.

Even with the increase in the tick population, he said, human Lyme infections don’t seem to be increasing, though there can be a lag between when a person is infected and when they get tested.

“We’re not seeing an uptick, pun intended, in infections,” he said.

The presumed low infection rate, plus the time it takes for a tick to transmit the disease, could help keep infections low.

It’s hard to point to a single factor responsible for the increase in blacklegged ticks, Needham said. He has worked with the state over the years tracking ticks, bedbugs and dust mites.

“There are hot spots where ticks are established and they do well, and probably every hot spot has its own story, kind of like a crime scene,” he said. Those “hot spots,” he said, include heavily wooded areas with lots of moisture, a dense, leafy canopy overhead, and plenty of leaf litter on the ground.

More remote parts of the state have probably always been well-populated with the ticks, Needham said, but increased awareness and surveillance mean people are looking for, and finding, the ticks.

In areas where they’re comfortable, though, he said, the “hot spots” will likely expand.

“I think probably over the next couple of years, we’ll see those hot spots expand and start blending together, and we’ll see whole townships and maybe whole counties involved,” he said.

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