How Many Ticks Are Carrying Lyme Disease In Western New York?
The nice weather is here, and with that comes a lot of time spent outdoors in western New York. So just how likely are you to come across a tick carrying Lyme disease?
The New York State Department of Health just released their report on the number of ticks carrying Lyme disease in upstate counties, including Erie.
The report gives information on the infection rates and density for both adult ticks and nymphs. Adults are more likely to carry the disease, but because nymphs are smaller (and harder to see) they are more likely to pass the disease on to humans.
From the study, "Density" measures how many ticks that researchers collected by dragging a 1-meter-square cloth for 1,000 feet through brush."
The report explains data is gathered from an average of two collection sites per county, but mentions "not all are sampled every year because of weather or other obstacles."
How many ticks in an area, and how many are carriers are what determines an area's risk.
The report says "statewide, 51 percent of adult ticks and 27 percent of tick nymphs carry the Lyme bacteria."
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