Group Searches For Answer To Combat Tick-Borne Disease

By Kendra Bobowick

They asked the most pressing question: What do you recommend?

“That’s against policy,” said the state’s tick-borne disease expert Dr Kirby C. Stafford III, vice director and chief entomologist for the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station. He spoke and fielded questions Wednesday evening from members of Newtown’s recently established Tick Borne Disease Action Committee — a group concerned with public health in relation to tick-borne disease. He could, however, supply information about studies of deer management including pesticides, culling, and other measures to interrupt the tick’s life cycle as it either contracts or transfers Lyme and other tick-borne disease.

He asked the group gathered in the library’s meeting room this week: “What is your goal? That is the big question.” Like surrounding towns and neighboring states, Newtown is faced with health threats from Lyme disease, for one, transferred to people through tick bites.

Further answering committee member Dr Robert Grossman’s question for a recommendation, Dr Stafford clarified, “We supply information.” Does Newtown want to eliminate Lyme, moderate it? For more than two hours he talked about the data and studies available. “I deal with facts of tick management,” he began. Running through years’ worth of studies and scenarios, he boiled down his presentation — three quarters of tick bites are from our own backyard. “It fits,” he said. “It’s where people spend a lot of time.”

He spoke about studies, factors that may skew results, problems with reporting and confirming cases of Lyme, methods of collecting and tracking data, and the numerous factors such as landscape, for example, that add up to a pool of charts and statistics that has towns like Newtown searching for the best way to reduce the incidents of Lyme disease. Why? “It’s everywhere,” he stated.

Despite the reasons for its spread, and the years Lyme disease and tick counts may spike or decline, some of his information was not subject to variables: an adults female tick drops from its host and can lay as many as 2,000 eggs. He said, “If you pick the wrong spot to picnic, you’re covered.” Throughout its lifecycle the larvae/nymph/adult tick feeds on several hosts, only some of which will transfer Lyme to the tick. Although a deer does not carry the infection, it carries the tick, and may drop that tick where homeowners are gardening, hiking, or cutting through the woods to school.

Later in his presentation, Dr Stafford conveyed some of the stories he has heard. Had your children cut through the woods to school? “Well, there’s your exposure,” he said, adding that school grounds are less likely to harbor ticks since the fields are mowed and tree-lined areas are often not near the building. Another story: “People told me they went to the beach, got a tick bite, got Lyme. Well, they didn’t get it at the beach. It’s too hot.” The main question for Dr Stafford? “Where did you walk through to get to the beach?”

The group heard about deer culling, they heard about approaches using posts to feed deer pesticide-treated corn, and after his more than two-hour presentation, he made one point clear: whatever preventative measures the group chooses, “It’s a long-term commitment. If you start, you have to keep doing it.” To stop using one method or another results in a rebound, he said.

Following Dr Grossman’s request for a recommendation, committee member Pat Boily asked, “What about an integrated approach?” The mix of methods to reduce Lyme could have an impact, Dr Stafford confirmed, but with a mix of culling and pesticide posts, for example, he said, “You can’t tease out [from the results] what was due to what method; what was not significant? What worked?”

Studies for clearing forest undergrowth of invasive species have also shown results that drop the tick count. Spraying pesticides in the yard is also effective, and finding and removing ticks within 24 hours also lends to a decrease in the likelihood that a person will come down with Lyme disease, Wednesday’s conversation revealed.

The question of deer culling also arose. Committee member Peter Licht asked Dr Stafford about community opposition to culling. “Well, it varies,” he replied. Some towns put the question to referendum.

Mr Boily asked, “If we decide to do something, how will we track [results]?”

“First you have to have an accurate measure of deer and ticks,” he explained. Does a lab exist to collate the data? There is no lab, Dr Stafford explained, “It’s us, the researchers.”

Could he do the study? “Yes,” he said. Is he interested in studying Newtown? “It depends,” he said. To measure the impact methods may have on the disease, he explained that active surveillance is necessary. Tracking and reporting is difficult, “but doable.” Tick counts and tracking tools are needed.

“Is it realistic for us to do tick counts?” asked Mr Boily. “It is long-term. You need to set up a lot of sites …”

As the meeting concluded, members considering the amount of information they had heard, they planned for additional speakers to schedule for coming weeks as they seek as much input as possible in their efforts to protect the public from Lyme disease. Visit Newtown-ct.gov to find the committee’s past meeting minutes and list of members. Calendar dates for coming meetings are also listed on the town’s website.