Pike takes on tick-borne diseases

David Hulse
Posted 8/21/12

MILFORD, PA — Pike County is fighting back against tick-borne diseases.

By their May 20 proclamation creating a new task force to foster awareness, treatment and prevention, the Pike County …

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Pike takes on tick-borne diseases

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MILFORD, PA — Pike County is fighting back against tick-borne diseases.

By their May 20 proclamation creating a new task force to foster awareness, treatment and prevention, the Pike County Commissioners recognized an epidemic of debilitating tick-borne diseases is prevalent in Northeastern PA.

The county’s action came two months after a group of residents, led by organizer Mikki Weiss, brought the problem before them.

The new task force was created as “the educational arm of the county to provide the best and most complete information available as to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment” of these diseases.

Weiss last week was grateful for the commissioners’ action, which she said was badly needed. Weiss said the local effort began last year in the Birchwood community, after neighbors spoke to one another about tick problems and resulting health issues.

“It’s a quagmire. We’re in the same place with this as we were with AIDS 20 or 30 years ago,” she said.

Part of the problem is lack of resources, said Dr. Robert A. Ollar Ph.D., who is a member of the PA Health Department’s tick task force. While the state surveys and sprays for other insect infestations, such as gypsy moths, “the task force has no money to survey for tick infestations,” he said.

Commissioners Matt Osterberg and Rich Caridi agreed to contact state legislators to pursue state tick survey funding.

Osterberg said the task force’s first action will be to increase public education. That will include informational sessions, like those already implemented by Orange & Rockland Utilities for outdoor workers. He said township roadmasters and PennDOT workers would be among the first to be included.

Caridi said he wanted to see a network including the Pike County Conservation District and the PennState Cooperative Extension.

He called it an economic priority. “Eighty percent of the county’s economy is tourism and the economic engine could be severely impacted if this is not dealt with,” Caridi said.

The website (cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/) of the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lists 11 tick-borne diseases. In the northeast, the most commonly referred to is Lyme disease, which is carried by the blacklegged or deer tick (Ixodes scapularis).

According to CDC The same tick also is known to carry diseases including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Borrelia miyamotoi, and Powassan disease.

For more about the Pike effort online, visit www.peec.org/lyme , or call the task force hotline at 570/503-6334.

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