Spike in deer ticks raises Lyme concerns

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

The state is seeing a shocking increase in the number of deer ticks that can carry Lyme disease, prompting concerns that it will lead to more cases of the illness, insect experts said Wednesday.

A group that includes the state health and wildlife agencies is working to sort out what risks may be posed by last year’s spike in confirmed deer ticks, also known as black-legged ticks, and how best to spread the word and keep people safe. The experts believe the higher numbers are a sign of tick population growth, not simply the result of more active searching last year.

It’s unclear what spurred the increase, though researchers suspect one factor is favorable weather conditions that helped more of the tick population survive and thrive.

“We got kind of a red flag, a warning that something really unusual was happening with the tick population, and maybe we’re out front of it a little bit” because the number of human cases of Lyme disease in Ohio hasn’t shown a matching spike, said Glen Needham, an associate professor of entomology at Ohio State University.

More than 1,800 black-legged ticks were found on deer heads collected from hunters last year, and 183 more submitted to the state for identification were confirmed, compared with 29 found on deer heads the year before and 45 that were submitted and confirmed, according to the Ohio Department of Health. The ticks, some carrying Lyme disease, have especially shown up in eastern and southern Ohio.

The deer tick was first found in Ohio in 1989, and in the following two decades, only about 50 of the thousands of ticks found in the state were identified as black-legged ticks, state public health entomologist Richard Gary said. In 2010, 45 deer ticks were confirmed, giving officials their first indication of a change.