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Upward trajectory of Lyme cases likely to continue

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They like to writhe their way to hard-to-check body parts and latch onto skin.

But the cringe-inducing thought of finding a tick gorging itself on your blood isn’t the only reason to squirm.

Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter

Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter

What was thought to be a freckle near Piper’s nose was instead discovered to be a tick last year, her owners said.

The last few decades have seen a feverish surge in reported cases of Lyme disease, which is spread by one of the tick species found in Pennsylvania, amid signs the pests – midwifed by warmer temperatures and the chopping up of forests into smaller pieces – are thriving like a divine scourge in an end-times prophecy.

In Washington, East Maiden Animal Clinic diagnosed several Lyme cases in dogs this year, said Hollie McCracken.

“We saw a lot (of ticks) last summer, and coming into this year we’re seeing a lot,” the veterinary technician added. “So I’m sure it’ll be more than previous years.”

Michael Skvarla, director of Pennsylvania State University’s Insect Identification Lab, said there “aren’t necessarily good records” that show the tick population increasing.

“Anecdotally, they are, because people are seeing them more often,” he added.

Potentially debilitating, Lyme disease spreads to humans from bites by the blacklegged tick, which can bite anywhere on the body but favors areas like the groin, armpits and scalp, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The federal agency said nationwide cases of the disease in the United States have tripled since the 1990s, even as most cases go unreported.

In Pennsylvania, new cases have risen five-fold since 2000, when the state Department of Health reported 2,313. In 2016, the most recent year the figures were available, the agency logged 11,443.

That upward trend became especially steep between 2013, when 5,904 were reported, and ’14, when there were 7,487.

“We certainly expect those numbers to continue to increase,” said Health Department spokesman Nate Wardle.

During that period, yearly cases of the disease in Washington County didn’t crack double digits until 2012, when 15 were reported. In 2015, they jumped to 80; in 2016, there were 145.

Greene followed a similar pattern, with few or no cases being reported up until 2014, when there were five. In 2015, there were six, and cases jumped to 24 the following year.

Some of that time frame coincided with a 2015 study in which researchers with the state Department of Environmental Protection found blacklegged ticks in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

Those scientists compared their work to a 1998 report whose authors identified the species in 49 counties.

Thirty years earlier, scientists found none.

Skvarla said climate change is a likely factor in the greater prevalence of Lyme, but it’s hard to quantify exactly how much effect it has.

He’s not alone in that suspicion. In the recently published book “Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change,” journalist Mary Beth Pfeiffer traces the disease’s global spread to places where it was formerly unheard of.

Warmer temperatures aren’t the only culprit.

“It’s not just climate change,” Pfeiffer said during an interview Wednesday on WITF, Harrisburg’s NPR affiliate. “It’s how and where we live that are participating in this whole picture of Lyme disease.”

Barbara Miller/Observer-Reporter

Barbara S. Miller/Observer-Reporter

Sydney, pictured in his yard in Peters Township, has owners who are concerned about ticks he might contact.

Smaller patches of forest – often found in exurban and suburban areas – mean good habitat for the white-footed mice that act as a reservoir for the disease. Meanwhile, this “forest fragmentation” cuts down on larger mammals that prey on the vermin.

“When you plunk down a development in the middle of the woods, what was forest is now edge habitat, which is great for mice,” Skvarla said.

But even with the rise in Lyme cases, one area physician said she rarely encounters the disease.

“I probably do a lot more testing for Lyme than I do actual treatment,” said Dr. Jennifer Lewis, who serves as chief of medical staff at Canonsburg Hospital and practices internal medicine in McMurray.

She said she’s “probably only seen two cases” of Lyme in the last few years.

Lewis said she looks at tick bites on a “case-by-case basis.” She generally only orders testing if it’s the right species, has been on the skin for at least 36 hours and is engorged.

She recommended people check themselves and their pets for ticks.

“The biggest thing I tell people is, if you’re going to be out in the woods, wear long sleeves, use tick repellent,” Lewis said.

Apryle Horbal, a veterinarian at University Veterinary Specialists in Peters Township, said ticks are developing resistance to repellents made for pets, so pet owners should use products that are effective in their area.

“Unfortunately, the ticks are getting smarter,” she said. “There are a lot of flea and tick products that previously worked on ticks but don’t anymore.”

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