Stamford Health Warns About Increase in Tick Population

From the City of Stamford: The City of Stamford’s Department of Health is reminding residents to be on the lookout for ticks. There has been a dramatic increase this year in the number of ticks that have been submitted for testing. The majority of ticks submitted by Stamford residents to date have been Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged or deer tick). These ticks are capable to transmitting Lyme disease and 33 percent of these ticks were found to be carrying the Lyme disease bacterium.

To protect themselves from tick bites, residents should use an approved tick repellant and wear long pants and long sleeves when going into areas where ticks are likely to be found. For additional information of how to protect yourself from tick bites, the Connecticut Department of Public Health has guidelines here. Remember to also check pets for ticks after allowing them outside.

Attached ticks should be removed promptly with a fine-tipped tweezers, making sure that mouthparts have not been left in the skin. The Connecticut Department of Public Health provides information on how to safely remove a tick ontheir website.

Clinicians should consider a tick-borne disease in patients with compatible illness who do not report a tick bite, since only a small proportion of patients diagnosed with a tick-borne disease recall being bitten by a tick.

Clinicians wishing to obtain guidance on identification, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tick-borne diseases may download the “Tick-borne Diseases” mobile app developed by CDC that is available for iPhones and androids.

Also, patients should not wait on the results of a tick that has been submitted for testing to see their medical provider after a tick bite because they may have been bitten by more than one tick and not just the one that was submitted.

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