Schumer maps moves to help defuse 'tick time bomb' of disease

Long Island is facing a "tick time bomb" this summer as health officials fight back against the bloodsucking bugs that can carry Lyme disease and other illnesses, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday.

Suffolk, which conducts tick surveillance in each of its 10 towns, is one of the hot spots for Lyme disease nationwide, Schumer said as he joined with county lawmakers, health officials and hikers in West Hills County Park in Melville to announce a series of preventive measures against the tiny creatures.

Newsday reported this month that 72% of adult black-legged ticks collected at one site in Huntington tested positive for the pathogen that causes Lyme disease, compared with 68% in Shelter Island and 62% in Islip.

"The experts are saying this summer is the tick time bomb," Schumer (D-N.Y.) said as he held a Newsday front page outlining the tick threat. "This is a plan to disarm the bomb and give people … some peace of mind that they can go outside."

Schumer, who was bitten by a tick years ago but received treatment before he could get ill, said he will seek additional funding for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to complete work on a Lyme disease vaccine.

The senator said he also helped secure a $12 million increase in funding last year to NIAID for Lyme disease and tick-borne diseases research.

An additional $5 million was also secured to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vector-Borne Diseases program that Nassau and Suffolk can begin tapping for education, research and treatment programs, Schumer said.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone described ticks as a "serious problem" that was exacerbated by COVID-19 during a time when people were locked down at home but animals walked more freely in the environment.

"Research is critical and the senator's funding will help us increase [the county's surveillance program]," Bellone said.

Suffolk Health Commissioner Dr. Gregson Pigott said ticks have been waiting for people to reemerge from the lockdown.

"We need to prevent these tick-borne illnesses from devastating our population," he said.

Schumer said he will also push the CDC to implement last year's Tick Act. The bill requires federal officials to expand tick research and testing; reauthorizes funding for regional centers of excellence, including in New York, to study tick-borne diseases and funds state Health Department grants to improve early detection efforts and education campaigns.

Harrison Feuer and his girlfriend Jess Liss, both of Port Washington, said they hike frequently across the state and are hyper-aware of the tick threat.

"The bottom line is if you're going to climb," Feuer said, "you need to check for Lyme."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.