Snowy winter may set up flourishing tick season

This year’s snowy winter might actually make for more — not fewer — ticks this spring.

Experts believe snow might actually increase the longevity of ticks, allowing them to thrive over winter, according to Dr. Scott Campbell, chief of the Suffolk County health department’s arthropod-borne disease lab.

“It is not the cold that bothers the ticks,” said Campbell, “But instead, it is the dryness that harms them and we had a very snowy winter.”

If the assumption is right, then Campbell said he can safely predict that “the winter has been very kind” to Suffolk County’s tick population and residents will be seeing a lot of the disease carrying critters. Each tick season is difficult to predict, Campbell acknowledged.

Not only will residents find ticks in long grass, parks and in wooded areas, they will be seeing a lot of them in their own backyards this season, he said.

“More and more people are reporting that they are coming into contact with ticks in their yards,” said Campbell.

According to Campbell, the ticks, have been moving with the Island’s deer population, which has increased in recent years and migrating west.

Specifically, Campbell said residents have been finding Lonestar ticks in their yards, which are recognizable by a white dot on their backs and are known not to carry Lyme disease, like deer ticks, but Campbell said, they still pose a health hazard to humans because they carry other pathogens.

A Lone Star tick bite, he said can cause bacterial infections, including ehrlichiosis, which causes fever, muscle aches, weakness and headaches and a rash similar to one caused by Lyme disease, called STARI, which can be treated with antibiotics.

“It is important to note that Lyme disease is not the only tick-born illness out there,” said Campbell.

Though he said, Lyme disease is still very prevalent in New York State.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 95 percent of all Lyme disease cases reported in the United States in 2012 were from 13 states, among them, New York, which publicized that in 2012 — the latest year statistics are available — there were 2,044 cases of Lyme Disease confirmed. That number is down from 2011, where there were 3118 cases confirmed. In 2010, there were 2,385 cases.

The best thing to do to protect yourself this tick season, said Campbell, is to be cognizant and wear long sleeves and pants when outdoors, use a repellant, such as DEET and conduct many tick checks on adults, children, as well as pets.

After coming in contact with a known-tick area, Campbell highly recommends taking all clothing and putting in the dryer for ten minutes before washing it.

“The dryer will kill the ticks; but they will survive in the washing machine. Remember they don’t like dry areas. And never, through the clothing in the laundry hamper,” he said.

If bit by a tick, Campbell said it is recommended that tweezers be used to remove it by grabbing the tick and pulling upward, then cleaning the bite area.