Health Director Warns: Don’t Let Down Your Guard On Lyme Disease

Donna McCarthy, director of health at the Newtown Health District, is seriously concerned about Lyme disease.

“[I’m] worried as summer wears on and schedules are busy that some people may become complacent and are not being as vigilant in their attempts to avoid ticks and tick bites,” she said.

Her concerns are valid. Approximately 49 percent of the deer ticks — the type of ticks that can carry Lyme disease — submitted by Newtown residents have tested positive for the presence of the spirochetes that cause Lyme.

“That is a painfully high number,” Ms McCarthy said.

Also causing the Health District director to worry is the fact that testing results are showing more and more of the ticks are coming back slightly, partially, or fully engorged. An unengorged tick removed from a resident is a tick has not had much time to fed and transmit disease.

“The percentage of unengorged ticks has dropped from 80 percent to 66 percent,” Ms McCarthy said. “If a tick is unengorged, it was removed as part of a timely, thorough daily tick check.”

The Health District is urging residents pay attention to their possible exposure to ticks. Nymphal ticks are very small and are difficult to see with the naked eye.

“It is critically important that when you are outdoors that you be careful to (1) avoid tick habitats whenever possible; (2) use personal protection such as protective clothing, long pants and sleeves, pants tucked in, long hair tied back, and use of repellents if desired and used according to the manufacturers directions; (3) check yourself, your children, and your pets for ticks when you come in from the outdoors; (4) if you find a tick attached, remove it carefully and properly with thin tipped tweezers just behind the head — the place of attachment — and pulling straight out; (5) disinfect the area and put the tick in a sealed plastic bag or container; and (6) bring the tick to the Newtown Health District office where we can send it out for testing for the spirochetes that cause Lyme disease,” Mc McCarthy wrote in a news release.

“There are also many things you can do to your outdoor environment to reduce numbers of ticks and tick exposure — contact our office or stop by for an excellent brochure that provides these details,” she said.

Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses can range from disruptive to devastating. Early detection, diagnosis, and treatment is of the utmost importance to enable recovery, she added.

Another Threat

If that was not enough to worry about, the Health District is also concerned about mosquitoes and West Nile Virus.

“Newtown has had one crow test positive for West Nile Virus,” Ms McCarthy said. “We have not had any positive mosquitoes, yet.”

The Health District is asking residents, if they are willing, when they find a dead bird, specifically a crow, jay, or raven, on their property (that has no signs of trauma or decomposition, and that its eyes are intact), that they put that bird in a plastic bag and place it in a bucket with some ice to keep it cool until Health District staff can collect it. The dead bird should only be handled with gloves, the inside of the plastic bag, a shovel, or other utensil, but not with bare hands. There is no risk that WNV can be transmitted from the dead bird to a human; however, dead animals should not be handled without protection, Ms McCarthy said.

Birds that the DEP are most interested in are crows, jays, and ravens. Their secondary list of birds of interest are doves, grackles, robins, house sparrows, and raptors. Young birds and most other species (catbirds) are much more likely to die from other causes.

“The staff at the Health District understand that some residents may not want to undertake this task, and they certainly should not feel that they have to,” Mc McCarthy said. “However, if more dead birds are tested from the area, there will be more confidence in the conclusion of whether we do, or do not, have West Nile Virus in the area.”

Protect Against Bites

The Newtown Health District urges the use of preventive measures regarding mosquito bites:

Whenever you use an insecticide or insect repellent, be sure to read and follow the manufacturer’s directions for use, as printed on the product.

Apply insect repellent sparingly to exposed skin.

Spray clothing with repellents containing permethrin or DEET since mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing.

When possible, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants whenever you are outdoors.

Place mosquito netting over infant carriers when you are outdoors with infants.

Consider staying indoors at dawn, dusk, and in the early evening, which are peak mosquito biting times.

Install or repair window or door screens so that mosquitoes cannot get indoors.

Avoid helping mosquitoes breed in your environment: drain standing water. Routinely empty water from flower pots, pet bowls, clogged rain gutters, swimming pool covers, discarded tires, buckets, barrels, cans, and other items that collect water in which mosquitoes can lay eggs.

Two very good websites to visit on this subject are www.cdc.gov and www.caes.state.ct.us

For additional information or answers to questions, contact the Newtown Health District at 270-4291 or email newtownhd@earthlink.net.