Lawmakers Call For  Mandatory Lyme Reporting

HARTFORD (AP) — Two freshmen lawmakers announced plans Monday to boost awareness of Lyme disease in Connecticut. There are proposals this session to reinstate mandatory reporting of all state Lyme disease cases and to establish a Connecticut Lyme Disease Task Force.

Lawmakers said the Department of Public Health stopped requiring laboratories to report positive tests for Lyme, a tick-borne illness, in January 2003. Lawmakers said the state has since dropped from having the top number of reported cases in the nation to the fifth.

“Because of this lack of reporting, misleading statistics give the impression that Lyme cases are dropping in our state, when actually the opposite is true,” said Representative Jason Bartlett, D-Bethel, joined by Representative William Tong, D-Stamford. “This not only prevents our state from receiving federal aid, but also prevents us from knowing if prevention methods are working.”

But the health department’s spokesman, William Gerrish, said Connecticut actually ranks second in the country, with 53 cases per 1,000 people. He said the state is starting a new reporting program this month, requiring laboratories with automatic electronic reporting capabilities to notify the health department of positive Lyme disease cases.

Mr Gerrish said other labs should be reporting regularly by 2008 and 2009.

Also, Mr Gerrish said the health department is already receiving federal funds to combat Lyme disease, funneling the money to two local health districts where the problem is the most prevalent.

Lyme disease, named for the Connecticut town in which it was first identified in 1975, can cause severe headaches, heart palpitations, and arthritis, among other symptoms.