Tackling Tick-Borne Disease—

Initial Report Due On Lyme Disease Reduction

By Kendra Bobowick

A preliminary progress report from the Tick Borne-Disease Action Committee may already be filed as of Wednesday.

Chairman Robert Grossman, MD, anticipated delivering the report to First Selectman Joe Borst this week. “I think we have enough information to begin making decisions,” he said Tuesday. Addressing the committee at a meeting last week, he had said, “We may make one or several recommendations,” regarding how best to reduce tick-borne disease in Newtown.

On Tuesday he warned, “I do not anticipate unanimity.” Topics such as culling deer raise many arguments, for one, while some people are opposed to spraying or pesticides for different reasons.

“Every possible approach has its own problems,” member Mark Alexander said this week.

Last week Dr Grossman had also told the committee, “We have no conclusions at this point; we’ll continue to talk, then start on conclusions.”

The group has heard from experts including entomologists, epidemiologists, and others who have for years tracked data related to diseases such as Lyme. Four-poster feeding stations that transfer pesticides to deer, methods of interrupting the tick’s life-cycle including spraying, and deer culls are among topics raised by the group in past weeks.

The committee’s goal is “To develop and implement a townwide plan to control and reduce diseases carried by ticks,” as stated in its charge from Mr Borst’s office.

“You can search high and low for a town that has cured Lyme disease, but none of these things are a silver bullet,” said Mr Alexander this week as he thought back on the most recent expert to meet with his committee this month. Epidemiologist Randall Nelson with the Department of Public Health added to the group’s growing cache of sources and information as it works toward a townwide program to protect residents’ health.

Mr Alexander said Tuesday, “The puzzle is the number of different aspects we have to look at and the nature of the problem and how to do something about it.”

One point is clear: “There is no quick fix,” he said. How will the committee measure the success or failure of its methods? Can the committee arrive at a Newtown-specific approach? “We’re looking for what works and what doesn’t,” Mr Alexander said. So far his group has heard about different types of sprays and a four-poster feeding station including rollers that apply pesticides to the deer as they feed. The substance kills ticks, Mr Alexander explained. Deer culling — a controversial option — is also part of conversations.

Options all come with their own problems: how much money can the town afford to spend on four-posters? How low must a deer population drop to make a difference? Can hunters operate on the town’s open space? Is the public taking preventative steps to reduce tick-borne disease? Some programs such as deer culling may not reveal their effectiveness for years, but at some point expectations will become clear, Mr Alexander said.

Residents can take protective steps, however. “There are a lot of things people can do in their own backyards that the town can’t do for them,” said Mr Alexander. Fences, sprays, and steps to kill ticks around the home “cuts risks, but requires people to be aware.” The health threat exists for every resident. Mr Alexander explained, “It’s easier to find people [Lyme] has touched, than it hasn’t.”

In months to come the appointed group will arrive at a conclusion: how to minimize tick-borne disease in Newtown.

Dr Nelson

Another meeting, another guest speaker, and another point of view Wednesday, November 18, offered the Tick-Borne Disease Action Committee members one more collection of tick-related research to weigh in its effort to reduce and control human infection from Lyme disease, for one.

Dr Nelson, who studies primarily the activity of diseases transferred from animals to people, said that an ongoing “systematic monitoring of disease in a population is a core issue.” Can the town use such surveillance successfully?

He told the members, “If you know who is getting sick, where they’re getting sick, you might be able to do something about it and answer some whys and hows.”

Where are people picking up the ticks? “Urban areas are not as much of a risk as rural, so there are pockets of greater risk than elsewhere,” he said. “You want to control the disease where people are at risk.”

Thinking of Newtown’s wooded areas, he said, “Living in the woods brings us in contact with disease … with complex lifecycles — there are a lot of places to intervene. Different areas might require different interventions.”

The bottom line is money. Dr Nelson said, “You won’t be able to do anything in this town without it — you can’t be stringent and aggressive enough to make a difference.”

If Newtown considers using surveillance to answer who, where, and why people are getting sick, he warned, “Manpower is important.” Regardless, he stressed, “The number one goal is to know everyone who has Lyme.” Finding a true number is unlikely, however.

He talked about education, implementing measures of treatment, the controversies and arguments both for and against use of pesticides, sprays, and deer culling. Read Dr Nelson’s literature at ct.gov/dph. Search for Nelson and find articles and information about Lyme disease and emerging infectious diseases.