By RICK MILLER
CattCoNews&Photos
OLEAN — Cattaraugus County’s top health official urged people going outside to walk the dog or for a hike this spring to be sure and check themselves for ticks.
Public Health Director Dr. Kevin D. Watkins shared a state Health Department study of ticks at several locations across the county with the Board of Health Wednesday.
Black legged deer ticks, which are becoming more common in Western New York, can carry Lyme disease or Borrelia burgdorferi.
“You want to get the tick off you as soon as possible,” Watkins said. Ticks can transmit pathogens like Lyme disease in 12-36 hours, for example.
Watkins said state Health Department staff drag white cloths over public outdoor areas to determine the number of ticks and what pathogens they harbor. It is just a snapshot, Watkins warned.
People should take precautions against ticks by using a permethrin-based product on clothes, shoes and socks to help repel ticks. Wear light-colored clothing to make it easier see ticks and remove them before they can attach to a human host, Watkins said. A deet-base insecticide can further deter ticks from attaching to skin.
Last year, the state Department of Health reported 117,179 cases among New Yorkers.
Another 10 suspected Lyme disease cases were reported by Cattaraugus County physicians last month.
Patients who describe a bulls-eye shaped red mark near the site where a deer tick attached itself are often prescribed an antibiotic.
Others who remove a tick themselves are also prescribed an oral antibiotic to avoid contracting Lyme disease.
Watkins said the state Health Department’s tick study are conducted at different times of the year, targeting adult ticks nymphs and larvae.
Adults are active from mid-October until freezing temperatures and late winter-early spring from March until mid-June. Nymph ticks are active from mid-May through July.
Watkins said untreated Lyme disease can include fever, headaches, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans.
Of the approximately 80 species of ticks, about 12 are known to bite humans. It is pathogens from the black legged deer tick that causes Lyme disease.
Watkins urged people to check for ticks in and around their ears, at their hairline, under arms, inside the belly button, around the waist, between the legs and behind the knees.
Several areas frequented by the public showed Lyme disease present in half or more of the tick samples the state collected by dragging cloth including Gargoyle Park, Pfeiffer Nature Center, Allegany State Park and Zoar Valley.
For example, 52% of the adults collected in Gargoyle Park tested positive for Lyme and 19.6% of nymphs. Other test results included:
- Pfeiffer Nature Center (Lilibridge) – 66.7% of adults and 20% of nymphs.
- Pfeiffer Nature Center (Eshelman) – 22% of nymphs.
- Eden Heights – 29% of adults.
- Allegany State Park (Red House) 54% of adults and 30% of nymphs.
- Allegany State Park (Quaker Store) and Finger Lakes Trail – 50% of adults.
- Allegany State Park (Blacksnake Mountain) – 27% of adults.
- Zoar Valley – 52% of adults.
- Deer Lick Preserve – 68% of adults and 44% of nymphs.
