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| http://www.boston.com/news/local/ar...isease_risk_up_
in_nh/
The Boston Globe
Boston MA
October 28, 2004
Lyme disease risk up in N.H.
By Clare Kittredge, Globe Correspondent | October 28, 2004
DURHAM, N.H. -- Hikers and hunters beware: A new study shows that more ticks
than expected in New Hampshire carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease in
people.
Entomologist Alan Eaton of the university of New Hampshire Cooperative
Extension said that the study, released Oct. 14, is the first significant study
of its kind in the state.
The results were surprising, he said.
The researchers analyzed 150 adult black-legged ticks, the kind that spreads
Lyme disease to people, collected in Durham, Lee, and Concord. They found that
more than 50 percent of the ticks from Lee and Durham and more than 70 percent
of the Concord ticks were infected with Lyme disease-causing bacteria.
''The risk of acquiring Lyme disease is directly related to the abundance of
infected ticks of the proper species," Eaton said. ''We've known the abundance
of the ticks from studies we've been doing all along. What we didn't know was
the infection rate of the ticks. We got our first peek at that with this
preliminary study."
Eaton, who has spent more than 11 years surveying for the Lyme-carrying tick in
New Hampshire and who plans more research when funding permits, said these
ticks are prevalent in southeastern New Hampshire and on the Seacoast.
''We've never had a situation where we've been able to test so many of these,"
said Eaton, who collaborated on the study with the Maine Medical Center
Research Institute in Portland, Maine.
''There have been lots of studies [in New Hampshire] on various aspects of
ticks, but nobody's ever tested significant numbers of ticks for the Lyme
disease spirochete in New Hampshire," he said, referring to the strain of
bacteria that causes Lyme disease in humans.
More than a decade ago, in the only other New Hampshire study of these ticks'
infection rates, an ''army of volunteers" collected a much smaller number, 26,
blacklegged ticks during deer hunting season and found only three infected with
the Lyme-causing bacteria, Eaton said.
''It was hard to draw an inference from such a tiny sample," he said. ''This is
the first reliable indicator of what's going on. Clearly, this shows the
disease is firmly established, and it was a bit of a surprise that it would be
that high."
Asked why the number of infected ticks seems to be growing, Eaton said possible
reasons include a larger number of deer and an increase in edge habitat, where
people and animals overlap.
The state epidemiologist, Dr. Jesse Greenblatt, said Lyme disease is the most
often reported infectious disease in New Hampshire, after sexually transmitted
diseases. Lyme disease in humans has been on the rise in recent years, although
it seemed to level off last year, Greenblatt said.
''The methods [used in the study] need to be carefully scrutinized," he said,
adding that he had yet to see the study. ''But certainly we are concerned about
it and feel it's important for New Hampshire residents to take steps to protect
themselves."
The Seacoast has the state's highest incidence of Lyme disease, according to
state data.
The state had 261 reported cases of Lyme disease in 2002. Of 193 Lyme disease
cases reported in humans in 2003, 115, or about 60 percent, occurred in
Rockingham (78 cases) and Strafford counties (37 cases), according to Chris
Adamski of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.
By Monday, 175 cases had been reported in New Hampshire this year, including 76
in Rockingham County and 33 in Strafford County, accounting for 62 percent of
cases to date, Adamski said.
''If the results [of the new study] prove accurate . . . and if we have a
higher incidence of the ticks carrying the bacteria, there is a greater
likelihood that if people have ticks on them, they could come down with Lyme
disease unless they take precautions," said state entomologist Tom Durkis.
People going outdoors should avoid high brush, stick to paths, use insect
repellent, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, do periodic tick checks,
and get preventive antibiotics if they find a tick on themselves, Greenblatt
said. He said the state plans to seek federal funding to expand research on the
disease.
Meanwhile, Eaton said the new study gives the state a glimpse of what appears
to be a growing problem.
''This is important, because until now it was a big question mark," Eaton said.
''People would say, 'What is the risk of getting Lyme disease here versus
there?' and we'd have to say, 'We don't know because we don't know the
infection rate.' "
© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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