Health District Gears Up For Lyme And H1N1 Season

By John Voket

Health District Director Donna Culbert is now dealing with the ramifications of two significant public health issues — the H1N1 or swine flu outbreak, and the recent proliferation of deer tick nymphs, the least detectable insect that has developed to the stage where it can transmit Lyme disease.

Ms Culbert said in a release this week that she expects to see more cases of the H1N1 virus in Connecticut, “and we do expect the case numbers to increase and to spread nationwide.” Fortunately, at press time, the local health district does not have information about any cases in its service jurisdiction of Newtown, Bridgewater, or Roxbury. “But we’ll keep public and partners informed as details develop,” she added.

On May 13, the Connecticut Department of Public Health confirmed five new cases of swine flu, bringing the state’s total to 38.

To date, none of the 38 people required hospitalization, and all have recovered or are recovering. The new cases confirmed Wednesday involve two Ridgefield residents and residents of Hamden, Redding, and Wilton.

Health officials say the 38 people range in age from 4 to 56, and are evenly split between men and women. Other municipalities with at least one confirmed case are: Danbury, Darien, Derby, Fairfield, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hartford, Manchester, Middlefield, New Haven, Granby, Old Saybrook, Stamford, Stonington, Stratford, Waterbury, and Wethersfield.

Among the approximately 2,600 confirmed cases in the US, three deaths have been reported in the 44 states currently affected.

According to the local health district release, cancellation of events and activities that involve the assembly of people is one way to help reduce the spread of disease. Depending on the numbers and location of cases and the severity of disease, it is possible that such cancellations may occur in the future.

Notification of any such cancellation will be done using telephone, fax, email, television, local cable access, and radio.

At the same time, the health district has seen an explosion of ticks being brought in for testing since it began the 2009 collection cycle March 9. As of May 11, 96 have been brought in for testing, 41 were disqualified from testing because no blood meal had occurred, and five have tested positive for Lyme disease.

“The fact that we got 41 out of 96 that did not qualify for testing shows me that people are being good about doing their tick check, and if found, they are getting them off quickly,” Ms Culbert said.

According to the American Lyme Disease Foundation, in May, nymphal activity begins. Host-seeking nymphs wait on vegetation near the ground for a small mammal or bird to approach. The nymph will then latch on to its host and feed for four or five days, engorging with blood and swelling to many times its original size.

If previously infected during its larval stage, the nymph may transmit the Lyme disease spirochete, or microscopic bacterial organism, to its host. If not previously infected, the nymph may become infected if its host carries the Lyme disease spirochete from previous infectious tick bites.

In highly endemic areas of the Northeast and upper Midwest, 25 percent of nymphs have been found to harbor the Lyme disease spirochete.

With that information in mind, Ms Culbert is joining other towns in the Housatonic region promoting a program that was originally established in Ridgefield called “BLAST.” BLAST stands for the five most important things you and your family can do to stay safe from tick-borne diseases.

B stands for bathing soon after spending time outdoors.

L reminds everyone to look their bodies over for ticks daily and remove them properly, and also reminds individuals to look for expanding rashes and reported them to your physician in a timely manner.

A encourages you to apply repellants appropriately to skin and/or clothing.

S stands for spraying the yard to reduce tick abundance. Studies have shown that even one application of pesticide at the right time of year and in the best location can reduce blacklegged tick populations by 85–90 percent.

T reminds everyone to treat your pets with a variety of methods veterinarians recommend for protecting animals from tick-borne diseases.

Ms Culbert said at this time of year it is not unusual for her agency to accept a dozen ticks or more for possible testing on a single day. For more information, or to get details on the BLAST program, call the Health District offices at 270-4291.