It's already a "really, really bad" year for ticks at Upstate NY

Syracuse, NY – Brian Leydet makes his living studying ticks that cause Lyme disease, and he knows ticks avoid sunny courtyards with short cut grass.

He was therefore surprised and troubled to find a tick on the ankle of his 21-month-old son, who plays only in mown grass in the sunny part of their Fayetteville court.

"My yard does not have habitat for ticks. That's really worrisome, "said Leydet, who studies ticks as a professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry. "I see higher numbers around my yard than in tick habitat."

Leydet said the lack of snow late in the season led to more black-legged deer or deer ticks surviving in winter. This means that they have laid more eggs that are now passed to the stage of life that causes most cases of Lyme Disease, the nymph. Leydet speculates that there are so many nymphal ticks this year that the shady and wet habitat areas they prefer are overcrowded and are forcing them to move into open spaces to find a meal.

"It's really, really bad this year," he said.

Nymphs are less likely to carry Lyme bacteria than adult ticks, but nymphs are responsible for 80% of Lyme cases. That's because nymphs are active in the summer, when people are more likely to be outdoors, and because they are about the size of a poppy seed, they are hard to see when they are attached to the skin. Adult ticks are larger, about the size of a sesame seed and more easily visible on the skin.

Leydet takes care of spraying permethrin, an insecticide, on his shoes, but he still found a tick recently after going to the yard. Fortunately, the tick was dead, probably killed by crawling in permethrin, he said. His son is fine too.

Ticks tend to prefer dark, moist areas. This is why they are most often found in tall grass or bushes in the shade. Leydet said his yard had only one row of trees, a place where he did not expect to find ticks when he recently dragged a cloth to the floor.

"I managed 20 ticks in 15 minutes," he said. "There is also a single tree behind my house, an oak with a little understory. I circled it once and picked up seven nymphs.

"There are many," he said.

Lyme cases usually begin to increase in June, so it's too early to know how bad the season will be, said Dr. Kristopher Paolino, a Lyme disease specialist at Upstate Medical University.

"That said, I see a lot of tick bites and have already seen a handful of Lyme cases, as well as other tick-borne diseases," said Paolino, assistant professor of medicine, of microbiology and immunology.

According to the state Department of Health, New York sees about 8,000 cases of Lyme disease each year. The first symptoms include flu-like symptoms such as headache, body aches, fever, chills and joint pain. About half of those infected with Lyme will also have a circular eruption that develops from the center. The disease can be treated with antibiotics if it is detected early, but can cause serious health problems if left untreated.

Leydet and other experts urge people to take precautions outside, including:

– Spray on clothes and especially shoes with a permethrin-based spray, available in pharmacies and outdoor stores.

– Wear light colored clothing so you can see dark ticks crawling.

– Spray on exposed skin with an insect repellent containing DEET.

– Check your entire body after your outdoor activities, especially in areas like the armpits, groin and neck.

– Remove any tick attached to your body with fine-tipped tweezers. Keep the tick by dropping it in alcohol or putting it in a plastic bag, then placing it in the freezer. The tick can be tested for Lyme bacteria.