Nov 29, 2007
Redding
Study will examine deer tick populations
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by SUSAN WOLF
pilot@thereddingpilot.com
The town of Redding is joining with 13 others in Fairfield County in a
study to examine deer tick populations. The Fairfield County Municipal
Deer Management Alliance is coordinating the study.
Doug Hartline, town health officer, said the deer tick study and count of deer ticks will be conducted in three designated areas in town. “We are trying to determine where the deer tick are prevalent and if they’re infected with Lyme disease [the bacteria that carry it],” he said.
The initial part of the study determined there is a large quantity of deer ticks in the Project Adventure area behind John Read Middle School, said Mr. Hartline. “These findings greatly concern the Redding Health Department,” he said in a letter to Principal Diane Martin.
Mr. Hartline said studies show effective landscaping and personal precautionary measures “will lessen the quantity of deer ticks and help decrease the risk of tick-borne diseases.”
He recommended several precautions, including clearing away brush, weeds and litter from the Project Adventure area and having students and staff wear long pants tucked into socks and long-sleeved shirts in this area.
Warning signs
This is an area where Mr. Hartline intends to post signs warning about deer ticks, but it is not the only area.
“We drove to recreational areas in town like ballfields, Topstone Park and the entrance to hiking areas to determine which merit the signs,” said Mr. Hartline. The signs will be put up, he added, with the help of the town’s highway department.
It is not the ball fields themselves that are a concern for deer ticks but rather their perimeters, said Mr. Hartline. He also said the ticks are most often found in moist areas near wetlands, in high grass, in shady areas, and where there is leaf litter.
Nathan Hale, Putnam Park supervisor, has also agreed to place the deer tick warning signs in the park, said Mr. Hartline.
“Lyme disease has been a public health issue in the town of Redding for quite a while,” said Mr. Hartline. He reminded people that deer ticks are active year-round.
Besides the middle school site, Georgina Scholl MD, the alliance’s research chair, said Topstone Park will most likely be another designated site for the Redding portion of the study. She believes the third site selected will be either the Little River or the Saugatuck Falls trailhead.
Study results
Dr. Eva Sapi, assistant professor of biology and environmental science at the University of New Haven, will analyze both the number of ticks found in each of the participating towns and the proportion of those ticks that carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease.
According to a deer alliance press release, Dr. Sapi “is an expert in the collection and analysis of deer ticks. She is particularly interested in the increasingly common finding in Lyme-carrying ticks of other infectious agents such as those that cause the diseases ehrlichiosis and babesiosis.
“Previous studies have reported a rise over the last few years in the percentage of ticks found in Connecticut that carry the infectious agents that cause Lyme, ehrlichiosis and babesosis, all of which are becoming increasingly common diseases in humans,” the release said.
This will be the first systematic study of ticks across Fairfield County, the alliance said. The information “will help towns understand better how to protect their residents from these infections, and will reinforce the need for vigilance in preventing tick bites. This study will also serve as a baseline for future studies of changes in tick populations that may result from various intervention programs such as land use modifications or deer management programs.”
“The immediate goal is to raise awareness that we have a lot of ticks where kids go each day, such as school and Topstone Park, and not just in the woods,” said Ms. Scholl, a Redding resident.
She added it may help people “to be more vigilant” about checking kids for ticks after participation in Project Adventure, for instance.
The cost
This deer tick study will be funded by the participating towns, many of which are members of the deer alliance. Redding is paying for the tick count at two of the three study sites. Because it is a member of the alliance, the alliance is paying for one. That means the town will pay $160 for the study instead of $240. It is also paying $1,500 to test 100 of the deer ticks, which will be analyzed to see if they are carrying the infectious bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The town is also spending $291 for 25 of the deer tick warning signs.
First Selectman Natalie Ketcham said a state grant is covering the town’s cost.
More information is available about the study on the alliance Web site, deeralliance.com.
Another deer tick study is scheduled for next October.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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