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Lyme disease found in nearly 40% of ticks during large Pennsylvania study
Updated 6:10 AM;
Today 5:00 AM
Pennsylvania has the most cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness. Dan Gleiter, PennLive HARHAR
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Nearly 40% of deer ticks tested positive for Lyme disease in the largest countywide study of the parasitic arachnids ever conducted in Pennsylvania.
Among 1,000 deer ticks tested, 38.77% were found to be carrying the pathogen, according to a report released Wednesday by Pike County’s Tick Borne Diseases Task Force. They also are known as blacklegged ticks.
Batonellosis, which causes a range of diseases in humans, including cat scratch fever, trench fever and Carrion’s disease, was the second most found pathogen, carried by 18.52% of the ticks.
What do you do after a tick bite?
Now is the time of year when tick bites are common. “We’ve been seeing an increase in (emergency room) visits,” Lind said.
She said you don’t have to seek medical attention for all tick bites, just when your skin appears to be infected, red or swollen.
Where are ticks found?
Nicole Chinnici, the director of the Dr. Jane Huffman Wildlife Genetics Institute at East Stroudsburg University, said ticks like moist, cool conditions and that’s when they are prevalent on taller grasses.
“Ticks are more active in the morning,” she said about the cooler, wet time of the day.
Gardeners, anglers and hikers all have at least one thing in common this time of year concerns about ticks.
These little arachnids can be a significant problem for people venturing outdoors. Ticks can be more than just a nuisance since they also can spread disease.
This fact may be the most widely known in Pennsylvania, which has had the most cases of Lyme disease from ticks in the country every year since 2011.
Leah Lind, the Lyme and Tick Borne Disease coordinator within the Pennsylvania Bureau of Epidemiology at the Department of Health, feels the numbers for infections during last year might be lower than 2019 because of the coronavirus pandemic.