SULLIVAN COUNTY – May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are urging the public to take preventative steps to avoid getting bit by a tick, the parasitic arachnid responsible for transmitting Lyme Disease and other illnesses to humans. 

The CDC estimates that 31 million people in the United States are bitten by a tick each year and identifies Lyme disease as the most common tickborne disease, with approximately 476,000 patients treated for Lyme every 12 months.

“Tick season is here and these tiny biters can make you seriously sick,” says CDC Lyme disease expert Alison Hinckley. “The good news is you have options to help prevent tick bites when you spend time outdoors: You can wear EPA-registered insect repellent and permethrin-treated clothing, do tick checks, and remove attached ticks as quickly as possible.”

Thangamani Lab at Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, a research facility specializing in tick-borne diseases, has identified 5 tick species found in Sullivan County since 2019:

1) Ixodes scapularis, commonly called the deer tick, was the most prevalent tick found in Sullivan County. This tick is a vector, or pathogen carrier, of several diseases including Lyme disease, babesiosis, anaplasmosis, and Powassan virus disease.

2) Dermacentor variabilis, also known as the American dog tick, was the second most common and is known to carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

3) Amblyomma americanum, the lone star tick, carries Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii. Its bite may also cause a human to develop alpha-gal syndrome. 

4) Haemaphysalis longicornis, known as the Asian longhorned tick, is an invasive species first detected in the U.S. in 2010.

5) Ixodes cookei is a parasite of raccoons, foxes, and weasels, and is a vector of Powassan virus.

There is a tremendous degree of uncertainty when evaluating human/tick interactions and finding a tick on your body does not necessarily mean you will get sick. Not all ticks carry diseases, and each tick species is associated with its own particular pathogens. The size of ticks make detection difficult, and our understanding of tickborne pathogens is further complicated by the complexity of the tick’s four-stage life cycle: egg, larvae, nymph, and adult. 

Dr. Gurvinder Kaur, who practices Family Medicine at Middletown’s Crystal Run Healthcare, gave this advice if you find a tick on your body: “Take the tick out with tweezers to get the head off and call your doctor if it’s been more than 24 hours.” Because we live in a high-risk area for ticks, Dr. Kaur administers 200 mg of the antibiotic doxycycline to anyone who comes in with a tick bite. She said that if the tick is fully engorged (full of blood and large), it has likely been feeding for more than 48 hours.

Dr. Kaur said this season hasn’t been bad so far (she hasn’t seen anyone test positive for Lyme disease), but she anticipates that it will get worse as the weather gets warmer and advised anyone going into the woods to wear clothing that covers all your skin, including your ankles. She also urged hikers to do a full body check afterwards and to check your pets for ticks regularly, as they can easily bring the parasites into your home.

Adding to the difficulty of diagnosing tick-borne illnesses is the wide range of responses among patients and the lag time for symptoms to develop. “Every patient is different,” said Dr. Kaur, who added that some patients get sick soon after getting bitten, while others don’t show symptoms for several weeks. 

What we do know

Ticks are external parasites that survive by feeding on the blood of animals, and many require a meal to molt into their next life stage. Ticks are unable to jump onto their host, so they find an appropriate piece of vegetation upon which they “quest”: they cling onto a plant with their hind legs and extend their front legs in the air while waiting for an animal to brush up against them. Though they can’t jump, ticks can use the static electricity from their hosts to be pulled onto their clothing. 

Ticks are incredibly resilient creatures, as their slow metabolism during dormant winter months allows them to go long periods without feeding. They can survive subfreezing temperatures for weeks at a time and have been discovered in Antarctica feeding on penguins. 

Ticks are generally regarded as villains, but their place in ecosystems is undeniable. Operating in large webs of interacting species, these arachnids, which favor humid woody environments, function as population regulators, contributors to biodiversity, and food for small mammals and birds. Just like the cockroach, the mosquito, the horsefly, and other creatures that humans often view as nuisances, they exist in Earth’s interconnected web of life. 

To evaluate tick dangers in your area, the following resources are available: www.thangamani-lab.com, www.cdc.gov/ticks/index, and web.uri.edu/tickencounter.