Noted Entomologist Will Be Tick-Borne Disease Panel’s First Guest

By John Voket

Newtown’s Municipal Tick-Borne Disease Action Committee will begin its second month of weekly meetings with its first invited guest. The committee agreed during its September 23 meeting to hear from Dr Kirby C. Stafford III, chief scientist with the Department of Entomology at Connecticut’s Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven.

Dr Stafford plans to appear October 7.

According to his state bio, Dr Stafford is a medical-veterinary entomologist whose research focuses on the ecology and control of ticks that transmits the agents of Lyme disease, human babesiosis, and human ehrlichiosis. He also has expertise in the biological control of fly pests of livestock and poultry pest management.

Dr Stafford’s past research in his Connecticut laboratory and in the field has focused on the ecology and control of the black-legged tick that transmits the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi and the causal agents of human babesiosis and human anaplasmosis.

That research involved investigation of landscape methods, least-toxic pesticides, and a parasitic wasp for tick control, the impact of deer exclusion and reduction on tick abundance, and the application of small amounts of pesticide to white-tailed deer for tick control.

He has also assisted with evaluations of canine tick control products.

For several years, Dr Stafford also worked with several local health departments and the Connecticut Department of Public Health on community-based projects for the prevention of Lyme disease, continuing research on various integrated tick management methods. These have included ongoing studies of a rodent bait box to control ticks on Lyme disease reservoir hosts like white-footed mice and chipmunks and evaluation of entomopathogenic fungi for the biological control of the blacklegged tick.

In 2004, Dr Stafford published Tick Management Handbook: An Integrated Guide for Homeowners, Pest Control Operators, and Public Health Officials for the Prevention of Tick-Associated Disease. And in 1999, along with four other investigators, he published a definitive paper entitled: Infection with Agents of Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis, Lyme Disease, and Babesiosis in Wild White-footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in Connecticut.

The committee consists of volunteers from diverse backgrounds, including chairman Dr Robert Grossman, Mark Alexander, Kirk Blanchard, Pat Boily, Neil K. Chaudhary, David Delia, Kim Harrison, Dr Peter Licht, Dr Michele McLeod, George Miller, Mary Gaudet-Wilson, and Maggie Shaw.

Resident David Shugarts was appointed to another group of support staff that also includes Health District advisor Dr Thomas Draper, Health District Director Donna Culbert, Newtown Police Captain Joe Rios, Highway Department staff member Joe Tani, and Public School Health Coordinator Judy Blanchard, Newtown’s GIS manager Scott Sharlow, Parks and Recreation Director Amy Mangold, and Robert Eckenrode, president of the Newtown Forest Association.

Mr Shugarts also serves as Newtown’s liaison to the Fairfield County Municipal Deer Alliance.

The committee was appointed in August by the Board of Selectmen, in part, because more than 4,000 Newtown residents are currently suffering the effects of Lyme disease, which is primarily attributed to a proliferation of deer ticks.

The committee’s primary charge is to gather and review documentation regarding the extent deer contact impacts Newtown’s public health, natural resources, public safety, and economic growth. The panel is also charged with delivering recommendations back to the Board of Selectmen within an expedited time line.

During its September 23 meeting, the committee agreed to hear from Dr Stafford. The group also took care of housekeeping as it established a regular meeting calendar.

The group decided to meet weekly at 7:45 pm, in the lower rear meeting room at the Booth Library. The panel will not meet November 11, the week of Thanksgiving, December 23, and December 30.

A new schedule of regular meetings will be published for 2010.

Besides agreeing to host Dr Stafford, the group also discussed other potential speakers and subject matter. Dr Grossman suggested the group hear from an authority on tick surveillance methods, so its members could ask questions. Ms Shaw said Newtown families who have been effected by Lyme disease should speak to the group as well.

It was decided to have one speaker at a meeting out of courtesy. Chairman Dr Grossman suggested that all sides of the issue of deer killing should be heard, and suggested that starting at its September 30 meeting, members should begin introducing more names and biographies of possible speakers.

In the interim, the chairman suggested members independently attend local informational meetings on Lyme disease.

One of those meetings is being hosted October 6 by the Brookfield, Newtown, and Ridgefield Lyme Disease Task Forces and the Brookfield, Danbury, Newtown, and Ridgefield Rotary Clubs. The “Lyme Disease Seminar” will feature Dr Daniel Cameron and Dr Steven Philips, current and past presidents of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.

The program will focus on the problems associated with diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases in the local communities. The free talk is being held at the Candlewood Inn in at 506 Candlewood Lake Road in Brookfield.

Doors opening at 6 pm and the speakers will present from 7 to 9 pm.