Lyme disease alert issued as number of cases rises

An unsettling number of Lyme disease cases has prompted officials in Dunstable and Groton to notify residents about threats posed by the tick-borne illness.

According to state data, the number of cases of Lyme disease in Middlesex County almost doubled in 2005 from 2004.

Although the state Department of Public Health does not have figures yet for 2006, Groton officials say the problem is not going away soon and that Lyme disease remained a serious issue in the past year.

Groton Selectman Joshua Degen, whose 11-year-old daughter was hospitalized for three days after contracting the disease last year, said he knows anecdotally of at least 12 new human cases in town last year, including two employees who work out of his Groton home.

A Groton dentist is also reported to have died recently from the disease, according to Susan Horowitz, a member of the Groton Board of Health and a local veterinarian.

To inform the town about Lyme disease, officials brought up the topic at a televised selectmen's meeting in December. Horowitz spoke about the necessity for caution even in the winter months, when deer ticks, the insect responsible for spreading the disease from animals to pets and humans, are still active.

"A lot of people get into trouble because they don't even know they have a problem," Horowitz said during a recent telephone interview. "It's all about vigilance."

Horowitz often advises people to wear long pants when taking nature walks and to check their skin and hair for deer ticks after being outside.

Symptoms of Lyme disease typically manifest as a bull's-eye and colored rash on the skin. Though treatable with antibiotics, the disease can result in long-term joint, heart, and nervous-system troubles, if not caught early, according to the Department of Public Health web site.

The department did not confirm how many deaths in the state have been linked to the disease, but spokeswoman Donna Rheaume said fatalities from the disease are rare.

"As a public health issue, we want to stress prevention," she said.

No human vaccine exists for Lyme disease, though one has been created for dogs, Horowitz said.

Middlesex County has the highest number of Lyme disease cases per year in Massachusetts, though other areas of the state, such as Cape Cod, have much higher incidence rates per 100,000 people, according to the site.

In 2003, there were 257 cases reported in Middlesex County. In 2004, the figure fell to 244. But in 2005, the number jumped to 438 documented cases in the county.

That year, cases total ed 2,312 statewide, up from about 1,500 in 2004.

Horowitz said he suspects the spike is related to the recent surge in deer populations in the region. Deer are said to maintain and transport deer ticks.

In Dunstable, Board of Health chair woman Maria Amodei said she knows of at least two human cases locally. In addition, five of her six dogs have contracted Lyme disease, she said.

The nurse's office at Dunstable's Swallow Union School recently issued a warning about Lyme disease in a newsletter to parents of students at the elementary school.

It recommended wearing light-colored clothes to spot ticks easily, and to tuck pants into one's socks when walking in the woods as a preventive measure.

In an interview last week, school nurse Beverly Johnson said she has had to remove deer ticks from students in the last few months, while some others had tick bites. Citing medical privacy issues, she declined to say whether any students had contracted Lyme disease.

Degen said his daughter has fully recovered from the disease, but that the recovery process was a tense period for his family.

"It was a scary ordeal," he said. "It was a very touch-and-go situation there for a while."