Tick Season Is Beginning In Newtown

Newtown Health District Director Donna McCarthy said that parents and guardians of students in the Newtown School District should look for a letter and two brochures about Lyme disease being sent home this week as a collaborative effort between the health district and the schools.

Elementary, intermediate, and middle school students will be bringing this information home; the high school students will have the information sent to their homes.

“This is important information and we strongly encourage you to read through it and keep it as a reference,” Ms McCarthy said.

The Newtown Health District is urging residents pay attention to their possible exposure to ticks. Ticks are now active and the nymph season is beginning. Nymphal ticks are very small and are difficult to see with the naked eye.

Ms McCarthy said there are steps that can be taken and several are critically important.

“When you are outdoors, be careful to avoid tick habitats whenever possible,” she said. “Use personal protection — 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.”

Parents should check themselves, their children, and their pets for ticks after being outdoors, she said.

“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,” she said. “Disinfect the area and put the tick in a sealed plastic bag or container. Bring the tick to the Newtown Health District office where we can send it out for testing for the spirochetes that cause Lyme disease.

 “Lyme disease and other tick borne illnesses can be disruptive to devastating,” Ms McCarthy said. “Early detection, diagnosis, and treatment is of the utmost importance to enable recovery.”

For additional information, contact the Health District office at 270-4291 or email the Health District at newtownhd@earthlink.net.