With Summer Come Worries About Insect-Borne Diseases

By Steve Bigham

Experts are urging residents to take extra precaution this summer when spending time outdoors. Reports indicate that Lyme Disease from ticks continues to be on the rise in this area. In addition, traces of the West Nile virus have been discovered in some mosquitoes in Queens, N.Y., indicating that it may have survived this year’s mild winter.

Last fall, the West Nile virus had New York City residents alarmed as it made its first Western Hemisphere appearance in their city, killing six people. It was hoped that the virus would have been killed off, but the Northeast is now on heightened alert status. The good news is that there have been no signs of the West Nile since February.

“What we know is this: in February, New York City officials and the Centers for Disease Control did find the virus in mosquitoes in northern Queens,” noted Dr Theodore Andreadis, chief medical entomologist for the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. “That did suggest the virus was surviving. Since that time, we had one Red-Tailed hawk die in mid February in Westchester County. But since that time there has been no virus activity. Right now, the bottom line is we have no further indication that the virus is living in either birds or mosquitoes. We’ll just have to see what happens.”

Throughout Connecticut, state entomologists are putting up mosquito trapping stations in an effort to find out what is out there. This week, state workers put up a trap in the Dodgingtown section of town.

Last week, a dead crow was found in Newtown and brought to the town’s health district for testing. The results came back negative.

“Crows are very susceptible to the West Nile virus,” noted Mark Cooper, Newtown’s director of health.

Veterinarians have also been alerted by the state to be on the lookout for any dogs with symptoms of encephalitis – a swelling of the brain, which is a common symptom of the West Nile virus. Other symptoms include high fever, frontal headaches, sore throat, backache, myalgia, fatigue, and gastrointestinal disturbances.

The virus was first identified in Africa in 1937 and was the first recognized insect associated viral disease of humans.

Mr Cooper urged residents to eliminate any stagnant water around their homes and to use bug repellants when engaged in outdoor activities.

The West Nile virus in birds and mosquitoes has been limited to a 62-mile corridor in southwestern Connecticut (lower Fairfield and New Haven counties). There were no human cases in the state.

Recently, the state announced that Newtown would be one of 44 towns to share $500,000 in funding to combat the threat of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus. The money will provide for “preemptive larviciding” in Newtown – an effort to get the mosquito before it becomes an adult.

Statistics gathered by the Connecticut DEP offer more evidence that residents should not panic about West Nile-like encephalitis. The likelihood of being bitten by an infected mosquito is quite rare, according to information supplied by the DEP. Only about 1 in 1,000 mosquitoes are infected, so even if a person living in an area where West Nile-like virus has been reported is bitten, “They are not likely to get sick,” said Michele Sullivan, DEP Communications Director.

Lyme Disease On The Rise

Cases of Lyme Disease continue to be on the rise. Last summer, nearly a quarter of all deer ticks tested in Newtown carried Lyme Disease. The disease has become something of an epidemic in this area, according to members of the newly created Newtown Lyme Disease Task Force, who fear that a lack of understanding and knowledge has served to heighten the problem. And task force members like Newtown resident Maggie Shaw are working hard to heighten the awareness. Mrs Shaw has 11 family members who suffer long-term symptoms of the disease, which is spread from white-footed field mice and deer to deer ticks and eventually to humans.

Many fear summer 2000 will be especially bad due to the mild winter. However, others are hoping the large amount of rain this spring might lower the numbers.

“All you have to do is walk through grass. I know someone who took a tick off from jogging on the road,” noted Patricia Campbell, whose husband has suffered from the disease since 1992. Symptoms include joint pain, headaches, sleep loss, and a host of psychological problems.

One big problem is that many that are bitten by a tick do not show symptoms until long after. Also, doctors tend to disagree on how to treat the disease. In addition, Lyme Disease, discovered in 1975, is difficult to diagnose and there are several points of view on how long it takes patients to be cured.

Newtown resident Vicki MacColl has had symptoms of Lyme Disease since 1989, not long after moving here from Utah. Now, her daughters, Harley, 4, and Jensen, 18 months, have also been diagnosed with the disease.

“It’s a multi-systemic disease. That’s what’s so overwhelming about it,” she explained.

The Task Force has worked hard to spread the word about the disease, often helping people to realize that the ailments from which they suffer are the result of a tick bite.

Ehrlichiosis and babesiosis, two other tick-borne diseases, are also showing up throughout the state.

Connecticut has the highest incidence of Lyme Disease in the country. Those who are bitten by ticks can take the tick to the town’s health district at Canaan House at Fairfield Hills for testing.